Nauseated Optimism

My partner and I were glued to the screen until we couldn't stand it anymore. Like most people in North America we were weary of the fierce rhetoric and rivalry of the U.S. Presidential Election 2024. We have relatives in the U.S. and my partner is still a U.S. citizen with Canadian Landed Immigrant status. He's also a former news writer and reporter so news was his bread and butter for awhile.

My partner took one for the team staying up until the election was called for Donald Trump letting me know the results as soon as I was awake. We had discussed all the topics and were, as we heard the phrase reported by a CBC Reporter, a couple of nauseated optimists until it became clear that we were just plain nauseated. I don't know who originated that phrase, but it was a perfect description of how we felt still, days after the election.

However, as one of the 'glass half full' people, I had to find an optimistic side to this weird election and decided that events and policies would unfold as they will and we'll see who's nose grows longer over the next four years. Yes, that's a reference to Walt Disney's Pinocchio whose nose grew longer every time he told a lie. It's also a reference to the holding of our collective noses that may have taken place over the last few months as it we all endured the sound bites of lies, and mean, nasty, just plain rude rhetoric.

I can't help turning to the visionary in me to make sense of what happened. America made its choice and the ramifications of this decision are severe if, and it's a big if, President Trump does what he said he would do. Was he just talking a big game, or was he serious? Was he telling us the whole picture or just giving us a glimpse? I don't know. I do know that North America is busy buckling up for some serious changes. Canada's Federal Government started their preparations for the transition months ago, just in case.

The Senate has a Republican majority and the House of Representatives may also have a Republican majority. That means anything that the president decides to do will basically have clear passage. I would be not pleased with that scenario if any party had that kind of power. Checks and balances are important and I hope there are some in place I don't know about. We'll also see in the coming four years whether American-style Democracy will hold up.

What do we know? We all know one thing for sure, and that is there won't be another January 6th storming of the Capital. Instead, the people imprisoned for violence and murder against American people on that day will probably be pardoned. Trump 'speak' isn't very reliable as he seems to like to play with his ideas and words. Will he really just stop supporting Ukraine like he said he would? How about Israel? We know he's pro-Israel, at least he acted that way in his last term, but we also know he's very, very fond of his deal-making prowess, even writing a book on the 'art' of the deal.

Ukraine will not likely receive funding from a Trump administration, but if he can stop this war with Ukraine's borders still intact, he'll have done something decent. Until then, I can only guess what will actually happen. We all know Trump loves to hear himself talk and his business ethic has no ethics except to win by any means possible no matter who it hurts.

I don't want to even think of any of the other things he promised to do, so let's get back to nauseated optimism. A shake-up of this magnitude in anything, life, business, marriage, or health usually signals that something's broken and needs healing. Anything that's broken needs to be reset, rebuilt, reborn, and returned to health. So this election was a kind of reset. We'll be finding out just how healthy America wants to be, for better or for worse.

One lady I saw being interviewed said, when asked why she was such a strong Trump supporter, that it was because of her faith. Did she hold her nose when Trump trash talked his opponents? When he was convicted of assault, did she not listen? At every turn, what he says he loves, he hates and then says only he can fix it. He'll apparently even fix women saying, "whether the women like it or not, I'm going to protect them". (Rally at Green Bay, Wisconsin on Oct. 30, 2024) Does "Make America Great Again", mean to him that he must destroy it first before be can fix it. Maybe, because then he gets to be the hero, and he really likes to be the hero. I sincerely hope I'm wrong about that! I love my family living in the U.S. and wouldn't want anything to cause their lives to be acutely stressful or miserable.

Being rebuilt or reborn after a shake up, in my world, is the lengthy and deep process of turning inward to find and face ourselves and our shadows, and, to assess what's working and what's not. It's my opinion that our soul and the seeds of light inside each of us are our guiding force. My point here is that unless you're connected with this guiding force and its ability to shine light on who we are and what we do, we really have no anchor to hold us steady. Some people connect with their soul through their religion. Some people are able to connect spiritually without organized religion.

Returning to health is something we all look forward to when we get sick. If America is as ill as Trump says it is, what does a country do to return to health? I submit that, with the hard work of figuring out who we are and assessing what's working and what's not, America has made its choice to let Trump lead the way. I know my partner and I will be watching to see if his nose grows longer or whether his changes are actually building all Americans up or just the people he likes. It's important to us because we're linked. When something big happens in the U.S., the reaction sets up repercussions all over North America.

I'm not sure, from what I've seen, that Trump has the morals or a compass to accomplish all he thinks he will. It will take passion, leadership, reflection, action, wisdom, soul connection, moral decency, compassion, clarity, and, yes, intelligence. I'm sure President Elect Trump has passion and the mandate to lead, but I'm not sure about the rest. In the meantime, while my partner and I are waiting to see what happens, we can work on getting out of nauseated optimism and into cautious optimism again. It's better for our health.