Good morning.

I didn’t post yesterday because nothing I had to share seemed significant given the huge decision our country was making. I felt so anxious all day.

I hope you exercised your right to vote. We are truly so lucky to have it and to live in a country where we enjoy personal freedom, especially as women.

I woke up at 3 a.m. and checked my phone for the election results. I stayed up for 30 minutes reading various articles before Tanner woke up and encouraged me to go back to sleep. I practiced Ashtanga primary series in my head (one of my go-to ways to relax my brain to sleep) until I fell back asleep.

This election cycle has been a circus. It’s been so difficult to watch the candidates battle each other but even more painful to watch our country become so divided. All politics aside, we just elected a billionaire reality TV star as President of the United States. I want to ask, “how did we get here?” But the answer is painfully clear.

Our society is full of disconnection, fear and separation and it only seems to get worse every day. We’ve traded in face-to-face contact for emailing and texts. We escape into reality TV instead of feeling the reality of our own lives. We scroll through social media quietly comparing and (sometimes not so quietly) judging. We’ve let the anonymity of the Internet rob us of basic human respect for others. I’ve watched complete strangers rip each other apart on social media in ways that are appalling no matter your political stance.

A useful litmus test for me is, “If this person was sitting directly in front of me, would I say this (or honestly even think it!)?” I find it difficult to believe that so many of the hurtful statements we’re hurling around at each other are things we’d say in direct communication.

While I can’t control what happens in Washington, I can control what happens in my own heart. Today I make the conscious choice to continue live from a place of love, compassion and kindness. I have written about this in the past but I truly believe it’s the only way we can keep moving forward.

Tanner shared the following statement on Monday evening.

“Be kind to yourself and to others, and respect each other regardless of whether your beliefs may be different. It’s what makes you different that makes you valuable to this world, not what makes you the same.”

So that’s all I’ve got for you today. This is one of those times where I have to step out of the blog bubble to feel grounded and authentic in this space. I’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Love and prayers to all of you and to our country. May we choose to respect and love each other and choose the path of kindness and compassion.

Jen