from THE COURSE IN MIRACLES

I don’t want there to be an “Us” and “Them.”
I am trying to avoid that path of thinking.
UNITED States!
UNITED States!
Stay UNITED!

Trying to get on with my Life and get back to Writing and Working and Taking Care of MOM,
Casting Shows, and Being Present in my Teaching, and Organizing for Christmas, and Cooking for GivingThanks Day…
I have to make Apple Sauce!
(I know. Who does that!?)

I go back and forth
Between my Fundamental Belief in the Good of People
And Trying to pick Myself Up Off the Floor from all of this!
I choose to Live in the Vibration of Hope
But over 400 Hate Crimes in the first week since the Election
makes me feel Less Hope.
Hope Less.
I have Faith in Human Beings and our US Constitution.
The Country is not run by One Man.
Yet, how do I go from my Favorite President Ever
To a Man in whom I have as little Faith as he has Experience
In only sixty days?

I am OK with my Candidate Losing.

A Meme from the Internet

That’s happened before.
And for the record, HILLARY did not fail us.
We failed HILLARY
In a Big Way!
And we must take responsibility for that.
I have heard nothing about her Emails since the Election.
And not one comment on tRUMP’s continued use of his private phone,
or his desire to live on his own outside of the White House.
Yesterday, tRUMP paid 25 Million Dollars to settle his tRUMP University Fraud Case out of Court.
That is unprecedented.
25 Million Dollars is a lot of Money.
I guess that’s an admission of Fraud.
So lets’ tweet about HAMILTON the MUSICAL!
Lets’ tweet about HAMILTON the MUSICAL a Lot!

Even with all of this, we can still, to some degree, deal with a tRUMP Presidency.
One way or another, we have to!
This Great Country has a System of Checks and Balances in place, and perhaps this will be its finest hour —
Its Greatest Test of how well it works!
And perhaps it won’t work up against this administration,
And perhaps the whole system will collapse.
We will even figure out how to deal with that, if need be!
We the People!
We the People!

It is the Hostility amongst ourselves which pushes me to the Border of Us and Them.
It’s those who declare that we who peacefully protest are “Crybabies” or “SoreLosers.”
(This from People who lose their minds over the Color of a StarBucks Holiday Cup!)

A Meme from the Internet

This, coupled with the lack of response and lack of apology about Hate Crimes
which the President Elect repeatedly makes the choice to Incite,
exposes a “Them”
Leaving an “Us.”
Perhaps there has always been an Us and Them.
Perhaps RYAN and MCCONNELL created the Us and Them six years ago.
Perhaps the DNA of the World is Us and Them.
I strive to make choices to Not Live in the World that way!
And, though I am feeling pushed there,
It is not something in which I wish to participate.
And I find myself in the midst of a Struggle that I know has barely begun.

UNITED States.
UNITED States.
We the People!
No Us and Them.
Just We the People.
We the People can and will Come Together.

How shall we heal the Hatred and Bigotry and Misogyny and Xenophobia that DONALD tRUMP has incessantly touted since his campaign began?
He has been President Elect for only a week and look at what’s happening!
Bigotry and Stupidity and Short-Sightedness are being flung around like a High School Twirler’s Tasseled Batons!
People are short-fused and angry.
(and sadly, I have consumed an inordinate amount of Carbs!)

I find myself Wondering if this man does cause the End of the World —
It’s Possible —
And if I and those who supported him were among those who survived,
Could I Love Them?
Could I Forgive Them and Love them Again?
Because that is the only way to Heal this.

I could try.
In the MeanWhile, I pray Every Day for DONALD tRUMP and MIKE PENcE and their Supporters.
It is the only way I know to Heal the Divide:
I start by Healing it within myself.

These Most Excellent and Charming Memes of JOE BIDEN have helped, by bringing some smiles:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/13/obama-biden-memes-their-best-imagined-conversations/
It feels like they help me Bridge, at least from where I am at —
They reach me at my Starting Place.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM–AeND41e/%20

And this made me Laugh.
It seemed Truthful and Silly and Fun.

I shared it on FaceBook
And it caused a shitstorm of responses!

UNITED States.
UNITED States.
We the People.
[We the People must all work very hard right now to Not Lose our Sense of Humour!]

Some reach out in Creative and Artistic Ways
Like my friend MELANIE CANNON, who Created these, which I Love:

Created by MELANIE CANNON

Created by MELANIE CANNON

These are Universal.
Aren’t they?
I begin to feel more “We the People” and less Us and Them.

And then I get hit with Reports of Some 400 Hate Crimes since tRUMP was Elected:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/us/politics/fbi-hate-crimes-muslims.html

Adam Yauch Park in NYC

I am on the Border of Us and Them
Yesterday in a PlayGround in Brooklyn, swastikas were spraypainted with the words, “Go tRUMP!”
Well, if you do that, then there is an Us and Them.
And clearly, You are the Them.
And I am beyond the Border, proud to stand with US.

Leave it to the Children to remind us All what we need to do:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/19/502710608/swastikas-are-painted-at-adam-yauch-park-in-nyc-but-kids-win-the-day
And bring us Back to How to Handle this.

Adam Yauch Park the Next Day

Respond with Love.
Respond with Love, even when under attack!
That brings us back over the Border
Back to We the People!

And the People Come Together:
http://pitchfork.com/news/69921-anti-hate-rally-to-be-held-at-adam-yauchs-memorial-nyc-park/

Others say, “Fuhgeddaboutit!”
Or ‘Build a Bridge! Get Over It!”
I have mostly heard that from White Heterosexual Cisgender Christians.
(Until this Election, I didn’t even know that was a Category!)
I am not a fan of Categories for People!
I prefer the infinite, boundless potential of People.

We the People!
We the People of Boundless Potential!

So, what happens now?
Do we just forget and get on with it?
Sorry.
No.
Would that it were that easy!
We Must Be Vigilant!
We the People!

Yes! Process.
Yes! Take Your Time.
Yes! Be Gentle with yourself.
Yes! Keep Your Sense of Humour.
Yes!
Heal.
Be at Peace.
Take some time to just Take Inventory, inside YourSelf.
How are you doing today?
How are you Feeling?
Pause and give YourSelf a Hug!
Affirm Something Full Of Wonder!
Here’s a Favorite Affirmation:
“I Trust the Process of Life to take Care of Me!”
Say it over and over and post it on your Bathroom Mirror!

But Keep Your Eyes Open.
BE LOUD!
MAKE STUFF!
IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING!
If You Object, Make Your Voice Heard!

It is 34 Days until Christmas!
Next Week is GivingThanks Day!
There is Much to Celebrate and there is Much to Be Grateful For!
These Celebrations can be Healing Actions
For You.
For the World.

We shall Love.
And we shall be Kind.
And we shall, with Every Action, Create our Country and our World the way we wish for it to Be!
Let’s Start with Gratitude.
That Always seems like a Good Choice for a Starting Place.
And ‘Tis the Season!

So, Yes!
Let’s get on with other things!
By All Means!
Let us plan our Turkey Dinner and our Festivities!
Let us share what we have!
Let us donate to Food Banks!
Wide Awake!
Listening!
Paying Attention!
Caring!
Helping!
Giving!
Coming Together!
And Living this Day in Gratitude!
Celebrating all there is for which to be ThankFul!

And there is Hope.
I know it looks Bleak,
And I do not underestimate the potential for Disaster here.
But President OBAMA met with tRUMP for 90 Minutes.
They must have talked about something.
I expect a Man like OBAMA had a lot to share that was Awakening and Enlightening, for a man like tRUMP.
He may have opened up the President Elect’s Eyes…
The meeting was not fifteen minutes.
It was Ninety!
And they have already scheduled another.
There is Hope for Change
Or at least for some Positive Influence…

Maybe he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
And I don’t like his rumoured Cabinet picks.
But he did say something a few days ago about making changes to ObamaCare, but not eliminating it,
And he did say he would do nothing to change Marriage Equality.
I don’t trust him.
I don’t know that he trusts himself.
But there is Hope.
I am not suggesting that we let our Guard Down,
We the People.
I am suggesting that we change our own personal vibration to one of Hope
And Positive Energy
And Vibrating on what is Good
And Attracting more of that to build upon.

A Meme from the Internet

Here at the Border of Us and Them,
I see all the Bad Stuff,
And it is Terrifying.
But perhaps since the President Elect ran on the Republican Ticket,
The Obstructionist Forces in our Congress will be obliged to agree with, and support his Actions,
And perhaps, since he says he hates Wall Street,
Some Economic Equality shall find its way through…
Perhaps there is something he can do to stop Members of Congress from Voting themselves overinflated salary increases and fat pensions…
I don’t know.
But I do need to vibrate on the Hope that I have
For what Good can come out of this.
I do need to get from the Border of Us and Them back to We the People
And the Only GPS for such a Journey is deep within our Higher Selves.
We the People Go High!
I shall never be less than Vigilant.
And I do not want whatever good may come to be at the expense of our Civil Liberties.
But it has been over a week now.
And I do need to somehow pick myself up off the floor,
Be of Use to my Fellow Citizens,
Fight for the Good of My Country,
And Do what I can to Create the World I Believe in for Future Generations.
I have to start somewhere
Even if I just start where I am
At the Border of Us and Them.

Yes!
I know!
There are Challenges to the Spirit these Days.
It can feel Debilitating!
We are finding our Way to Deal with it.
And we Will!
We Will Deal with It!
And we will be Okay!
But we can be Grateful and OK!
We can Celebrate the Holidays in Loving and Sharing!
In fact, we may even be More Okay, that way!
We the People…

This is the Time for Letting Go!
For ForGiving!
For Giving Thanks!
Remember That, as we Move Forward.

SHARON JONES died yesterday.
She left us this…

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