Ever since Tuesday, November 8th, 2016, I felt like I have been holding my breath. I inhaled the moment Trump was elected president and held it ever since. My body became tense, anxious, and always on alert because someone was elected to the presidency who would and did threaten mine and so many other's lives. From that election day and on, I held my breath. Every day was a new headline, a new accusation, a new terrifying act being pushed through legislator. I ended up building a dam in my body to keep all of that tension in one place. I created a space for it to sit and exist in my body. This past year the dam slowly started to crack and break and my body started to feel all of the tension I held onto for so long.
Then November 3rd, 2020 came and the dam broke. All of the anxieties, fears, and tensions started to flood my body. The fear that I and so many others might have to live in a state of tension for four more years overtook my emotions. As the election week passed, I felt myself getting sick. I knew why I was getting sick. I was feeling everything. I was feeling the fear, the hope for a Biden Harris win, the sadness that the past four years have brought. Each day my body was healing and processing. The outcome for Biden was looking brighter as the hours passed on and states began turning blue.
November 7th, 2020. Joe Biden is elected the president and Kamala Harris is elected the Vice President. In that moment my body exhaled. It exhaled all those emotions, thoughts, and fears I inhaled four years ago. My body felt renewed because that stale toxic air exited my body and I was able to breathe in fresh air.
The days following the big announcement created a new sense of relaxation. I know now that there is a clear end in sight of the Trump presidency. Despite that, I still a lot of stress surrounding our current political climate. What will the last months of his presidency look like? How bad does COVID have to get? What else is going to happen? I know regardless there is a lot of work to do but, I am ready to do it. The tough conversations won't stop. Voting with your ballots, money, and time doesn't stop. Creating a more equal, just world doesn't stop because we are just getting started.
It might feel like we just got out of winter and with the end of winter comes spring. Spring brings many fresh starts and spring fever. I will take that energy and make some good happen. I just can't forget to fully inhale and exhale because stale air will make it hard to keep moving forward.
*A nice exhale and stretch (Jan. 2020, New York)
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