Thank you. I'm so grateful to have discovered you. I've grown weary of the demonizing rhetoric on both sides of the election. We painted one another with such broad brushes that it's impossible to tell what we've accomplished by doing so AND some of us are still trying to find the humanity in all of it.
I'm reminded of the various stories of soldiers fighting one another AND realizing that in other circumstances they would have been friends, or at least, could have been friends.
Take care of yourself and we will do our best to be civil with those who seem to do their worst to make our blood boil.
Thank you Larry for your kind words, I’m genuinely so glad you found it helpful. I love your anecdote about war time soldiers. A poignant illustration of dialectics, I think. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for this beautiful and timely piece. I vacillate between the urge to run and reminding myself that my medical license puts me in a position to help others. Looking away from the impending tsunami is all I can do sometimes.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment Amber. I understand wanting to flee sometimes. I struggle with that urge a lot in regard to gun violence and my kids. I love that you are able to notice that your desire to help people is a value, and you use that to ground yourself and guide your next steps.
Beautifully articulated Amber. I am thinking of you all over in the US as the horror-show unfolds. I think the other thing the pandemic taught us was that crises come and go, everything passes and changes eventually.
I also wrote a post about dialectics last year, when we experienced a swing from the left to the right in the New Zealand election. Framing it dialectically helps me to zoom out to the bigger picture. The political pendulum swings ever left and right and everything passes. I appreciate though that our swing has not been as extreme as what you guys may be facing.
True story: I was reading your post when my husband said "come quick...there's a rat." And yep, from an upstairs window, I watched a rat scamper around on our roof and then hide in a roof vent. And now that I've sat back down after a total mental freak-out, your tips are working for this situation, too. There are rat(s) in our attic AND I have the means to call an exterminator. (Perhaps one difference with politics and why it can feel so hopeless is we're dependent on others to agree we need to call pest control, and then we have to find the budget to pay for it...sigh.) *deep breaths*
Oohhh this is so juicy. Thank you! It seems it always comes back to the ability to hold many truths all at once. Easier said than done, to be sure, but it's helpful to know that it's a practice and there are tangible things we can do to support ourselves and each other :)
This was spot on! I am grateful for this guidance in the midst of what feels like tremendous turmoil. I recall my therapist friends voicing that same overwhelm at the start of Covid - How do you walk with someone who is going through the exact same thing you are!?
I love the list of things to keep in mind, especially no. 4 - Joy and despair are often woven together and just because there is heaviness, doesn't mean we can't also have lightness!
All of your writing is excellent and this is timely and so helpful. It really gave me perspective— I’ve been feeling the need to respond immediately! And I’ve done what I can do, and that’s enough for now— but until I read your post, I hadn’t figured it out. Your references are so helpful. Thanks again.
Thank you. I'm so grateful to have discovered you. I've grown weary of the demonizing rhetoric on both sides of the election. We painted one another with such broad brushes that it's impossible to tell what we've accomplished by doing so AND some of us are still trying to find the humanity in all of it.
I'm reminded of the various stories of soldiers fighting one another AND realizing that in other circumstances they would have been friends, or at least, could have been friends.
Take care of yourself and we will do our best to be civil with those who seem to do their worst to make our blood boil.
Thank you Larry for your kind words, I’m genuinely so glad you found it helpful. I love your anecdote about war time soldiers. A poignant illustration of dialectics, I think. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for this beautiful and timely piece. I vacillate between the urge to run and reminding myself that my medical license puts me in a position to help others. Looking away from the impending tsunami is all I can do sometimes.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment Amber. I understand wanting to flee sometimes. I struggle with that urge a lot in regard to gun violence and my kids. I love that you are able to notice that your desire to help people is a value, and you use that to ground yourself and guide your next steps.
Beautifully articulated Amber. I am thinking of you all over in the US as the horror-show unfolds. I think the other thing the pandemic taught us was that crises come and go, everything passes and changes eventually.
I also wrote a post about dialectics last year, when we experienced a swing from the left to the right in the New Zealand election. Framing it dialectically helps me to zoom out to the bigger picture. The political pendulum swings ever left and right and everything passes. I appreciate though that our swing has not been as extreme as what you guys may be facing.
Thank you for stopping by to comment Vicki. The bigger the pendulum swings become, the more difficult it is to see any progress. It’s disheartening.
Yes, I can only imagine how hard this is up close. The world is holding its breath waiting on the outcome of your election.
Thank you for putting in the labor to write this very necessary piece and share these reminders from teachers before 🙏🏼
also, in a very strange coincidence, I know one of the people whose sign is in the image you used. so weird. I was like, I know her!
That’s so random! It’s just a stock photo I grabbed. Thanks for reading Kaitlyn!
True story: I was reading your post when my husband said "come quick...there's a rat." And yep, from an upstairs window, I watched a rat scamper around on our roof and then hide in a roof vent. And now that I've sat back down after a total mental freak-out, your tips are working for this situation, too. There are rat(s) in our attic AND I have the means to call an exterminator. (Perhaps one difference with politics and why it can feel so hopeless is we're dependent on others to agree we need to call pest control, and then we have to find the budget to pay for it...sigh.) *deep breaths*
I love the conversation around Dialectics. This is something we must get better at.
Oohhh this is so juicy. Thank you! It seems it always comes back to the ability to hold many truths all at once. Easier said than done, to be sure, but it's helpful to know that it's a practice and there are tangible things we can do to support ourselves and each other :)
This was spot on! I am grateful for this guidance in the midst of what feels like tremendous turmoil. I recall my therapist friends voicing that same overwhelm at the start of Covid - How do you walk with someone who is going through the exact same thing you are!?
I love the list of things to keep in mind, especially no. 4 - Joy and despair are often woven together and just because there is heaviness, doesn't mean we can't also have lightness!
Thank you! So helpful in these fraught times
I’m so glad Jan. Thank you for reading and taking a moment to comment!
All of your writing is excellent and this is timely and so helpful. It really gave me perspective— I’ve been feeling the need to respond immediately! And I’ve done what I can do, and that’s enough for now— but until I read your post, I hadn’t figured it out. Your references are so helpful. Thanks again.
Thank you 🙏 This is so encouraging.