After that Tuesday, you know the one, I went to work straight away, getting ready. Grief be damned. My preparations were intuitive but deliberate, and these weeks later I find myself in a place of calm resolve, clear on what’s required of me. Preparing to do it. Preparing. For those grasping for a path, I’d like to share how I got here. There’s nothing special about it. Anyone can repeat the process.
Well, I do have one leg up on you that made all this easier, I’ve been trained as an organizer (what I mean by that is another essay for another day) and if you’re serious about opposing what’s coming, I suggest you get trained as an organizer too (I’ll get to it in Part Three, promise). What follows is not for the organizers though. This is for those of you who’ve realized more is required of you… But have no idea where to start.
For context, let me state some truths I hold self-evident:
1 Donald Trump will be President.
2 The next 4–8 years will be very, very, very bad. Worse than most folks are currently allowing themselves to confront. There is no telling how long it will take us to recover. (If you just thought, “8 years? He’ll be so awful, there’s no way he gets reelected,” please consider where that type of confidence has gotten us thus far.)
3 How bad this gets rests a great deal on us. Not just how hard we work but how smart. How well we work together.
4 The work that must be done will not be done online.
5 Each of us already has everything we need to confront this moment.
Let me say that one more time: Each of us already has everything we need to confront this moment.
Attempting to codify how I found my way to this clarity of purpose, a metaphor presented itself. Odd, I thought, considering I’ve only been surfing twice and never really stood up on the board. Then I remembered that David Mitchell line, “…your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean! Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?”
Step one: Dive deep.
Like a surfer paddling out past the place where the waves break, the most efficient path to a place of preparedness and poise is to dive underneathe. Taking the waves head on can sap your strength as they buffet you back, erasing progress. The most efficient way through is to dive deep.
For some, this may be the most challenging step. The work is emotional and internal. It demands that you confront yourself honestly:
What do you value in life, at the most basic level?
Where does your power come from?
What are you willing to sacrifice in order to defend your values?
There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. There is only honesty and denial. The moment you read them, you knew the answers. Maybe some rang clear like a bell. Others shuttered soft, muffled. But the answers are already there. Don’t settle for the first one you find, though. Keep digging. Bust through walls, dynamite discomfort, self loathing and fear to get to them. Get over it. Push through. If not for you, for us. We need you.
These answers are your compass. With out honest ones, you’re already lost.
While you’re searching for them, tune out the rest of the world. Stay off the internet. Don’t watch the news. Disconnect. Go quiet. Strive to find your way with out the distortion of other’s opinions and perspectives. There’s a reason I’m telling you how I got here, but not where I am. My way forward is not yours. Your gifts are not mine. All of us being our best selves, that’s how we protect the things we care about. That’s how we oppose what’s coming.
Step Two: Look Around… continues here:
https://medium.com/angelinaburnett/whats-next-part-two-55af745cd148#.uxx04996c
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