Still reeling from the election? Have the happiest of holidays anyhow!!
Is it just me or has anyone else felt strange about entering the holiday season just three weeks after the terrible results of the 2024 election? I mean if ever the words BAH HUMBUG were to cross my lips, it would be during this upcoming holiday season. I mean don’t you know that democracy in the United States of America as we know it may very well end in just 7.5 weeks?? What is there to be so happy about!?
But the words BAH HUMBUG will not cross my lips because I’m abiding by the wise words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., let no man bring you so low as to hate him. Or I should say in this case, let no one bring me so low as to not to enjoy the holidays.
What makes the holidays so sacred? Technically nothing but I’m making a conscious choice to welcome joy! In general, I’m not really into all the pomp and circumstance of the holidays. I value the togetherness of it all but can do without everything else. Practically speaking, the everything else part of it is a bit of a chore. But the togetherness and cooking aspects are what I enjoy. To deny myself that because of the lousy election results and the impending chaos would be to my own detriment. It’s not like there’s a prize for being miserable.
Plus I’m turning the corner on my irritation and anger about the election. I’ve been mourning the loss and processing my feelings by writing about it. My prayer has been to move from sober to strong. My prayer is being answered as we speak. I am feeling stronger. Leaning into joy and gratitude will make me even stronger. In Harmonious Balance language, joy and gratitude are balancers. Feeling stronger aka feeling more balanced requires me to impose stability onto the situations I face and not be subject to the chaotic and volatile whims of it all. Joy and gratitude are already baked into the spirit of the holidays. All I have to do is step into the flow of it.
That is what I intend to do and for anyone still feeling stuck in the post-election fog, perhaps this is the word for you too.
At my core, I do believe it is better to hope than to dread. That doesn’t mean clinging to false hope, permanently burying my head in the sand, becoming blind to reality and naive about all the trouble that may lay ahead. What it does mean is that I’m choosing, this holiday season, not to give any thought for tomorrow. What it does mean is that I’m choosing, this holiday season, to live the life that I’m fighting for. Again in Harmonious Balance language this is called strategic disengagement.
If anything, this 2.5 month buffer between Election Day and Inauguration Day is a gift. There is time to recharge and wrap our heads around these results and all that these results portend. I just learned in the UK that once the election results are in the winner takes over the very next morning! Can you imagine if that were to have happened here in the States?! I can’t imagine that and thankfully we don’t have to.
Having said all of this, I know it’s not always as simple as flipping a switch. Even if each of us individually can flip the switch, that doesn’t mean each of us are looking forward to spending time with family. Not all of us will be entering into politics-free zones. Some of us have terrible options. Attend a divisive and dramatic family gathering or grapple with loneliness.
If spending the holidays with family would truly be uncomfortable, untenable and simply unhealthy for you, then definitely do what you gotta do. On the other hand, if you have an otherwise healthy relationship with your family but they just happen to be led astray this past election, don’t be so quick to toss them aside. Even if you’ve gotten into heated debates with them in the past, don’t swear them off.
Why??
Well one reason is it is simply exhausting and all that energy spent arguing clearly didn’t move the needle. So it’s time to shift the energy. Instead of centering our conversations and efforts on the election and politics, center the relationship. As one of my favorite vocalists, Ledisi, sings, let love rule. Choose to love instead of argue. Reminisce on good times. The truth is you don’t hate them. The love you have for them didn’t evaporate with the election. Love simply does not work that way.
Love has a way of converting the seemingly in-convertible. Smile when you see them. Give them a big hug. Even if you have to do so as an act of your will. Being conciliatory is an act of love. Simply loving on that disagreeable friend or family member be could very well open the door to understanding. It make take some time. But it will be time well-spent if all parties involved become disarmed long enough to actually hear one another.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.
~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr
Make no mistake about though this isn’t about letting bygones be bygones or sweeping things under the rug. It’s about rest and recovery. It’s about cultivating the moments when more serious matters can be addressed successfully. It’s about deciding not to let the cares of this world get the best of us. It’s about, in the midst of chaos and foolishness, being determined to press forward with our hearts and minds in tact, anyhow.
This post was inspired in part by a song we used to sing in church during testimony service growing up.
Hallelujah anyhow. Never, never let life troubles get you down. When hard trials come your way, Hold your head up high and say, Hallelujah anyhow.
Onward anyhow in Harmonious Balance, my friends!
Johanna
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Hallelujah anyhow to you! Happy Holidays 🫂