I didn’t expect to feel so emotional after this election. I’ve seen worse situations. Life and death situations and hate crimes. But this election left me numb. I went on a rollercoaster of emotions. Excited, worried, scared, hopeless, fear, anger, sadness, numbness just to name a few. I ended up taking a mental break because emotionally I was falling apart and mentally I just couldn’t handle what was happening. But I’m ready. I needed that mental break so that I can do the work. It’s time for action because the most important people to me, my kids, are watching.
I’m not one to break and I’m almost ashamed to say I did. I’m a crier and then I dust off and get to work. This time was different. I didn’t cry but I watched my husband have emotions and he just isn’t the type to show sadness and that broke me.
We’re a pretty strong family. We deal with race issues regularly but we can handle them. This time something broke and it isn’t like the two candidates that we had were going to make it better but one, the one that won, is a scary man and the type I avoid if we were walking down the same side of the street.
I am a Bernie supporter but after he didn’t win, I made the decision to vote against Trump so I really expected Hillary to win. This was the first election I paid attention to and really did my homework when it came to what I was voting for and why. It was also the first election that provoked anxiety because now here I was as a parent with children who understood, asked questions, and had opinions. They were and are watching a lot closer than I anticipated.
But when your daughter asks when we can vote again and the answer horrifies her you take action. I need to show my kids and prepare them for what’s to come. So I’m ready to get to work and I hope you are too.
Self-Care
I couldn’t have functioned with clear intentions if I hadn’t taken a mental break. My best friend always tells me “Hydrate and LISTEN to your body”. DO that!
Aren’t sure if you are suffering Read this Steps to Self-Care after emotional and Psychological Trauma
Take Action: Learn, Donate and Spread Awareness
Border Angels– Because immigration issues exist but we all have human rights
United We Dream– Because our undocu-communities need to stay together and have opportunities and justice too.
Black Lives Matter- Because they are fighting and supporting against Black Lives injustices
Planned Parenthood– because I believe in access to health care and reproductive services!
Freedom Fighter ACLU– because I believe in protecting voting rights, justice system reform, and reproductive freedom!
TransLifeLine– Because LGBTQ lives are at risk and we need to protect them now!
Sign petition to Abolish the Electoral College– because the popular vote seems more logic and responsible to me.
I’ll be updating this list. If you have any must reads or ways we can share to take action please let us know.
jai
That second quote is EVERYTHING! It’s so true I had to sit and process everything before writing a post and even then it took me longer than I thought to put my anger and sadness down on paper. Let’s work on changing those things we won’t accept! Hugs amiga!