As I type this I am sitting in a close friend’s living room watching the election results come in. By the time this article is posted, we will have a new president. But while we all await in flux the verdict deciding a 4 year path, it is worth recognizing what the true meaning of today is. Whether we like it or not, today united us all.
I voted in my city of Northampton, Massachusetts early this morning. I was greeted by the almost too cliché-friendly old ladies, who commented on how early I was up as they asked for my address. I had to repeat the spelling of my last name 5 times, was handed a ballot, and did the deed. The thrill I had when receiving my “I Voted” sticker made me recall similar sticker rewards when I was younger and would leave the pediatrician’s office. There was a bake sale and a book sale on my way out and everyone was friendly, smiling. We were all the same in that Senior Center room. Americans who had gathered to partake in a process that our countries identity has been constructed on. It was a reminder of our importance as individuals but also as a whole entity.
Melodrama aside, who wouldn’t be eagerly content? After the deafening bitterness of constant campaigning over the last 5 years, I mean months, there was a subtle but profound silence that fell over the country today. It lingered peacefully and slowly started to fade as the first polls closed. It was a hush that put us all back in our places, the whistle that signaled that the game was over. It was as close to a meditative state that a whole country can get.
I am going to do my best to not forget today’s feeling of community. If we all retained that collective feeling of pride and responsibility on voting day, we could achieve. Because that’s what it really comes down to, isn’t it? Working together is what needs to happen for anything to change in this country. If we can’t level on anything else, let’s level on the fact that we are all individuals with our own thoughts and the capacity to make them heard, and that is a beautiful thing. If we start from there and move forward in unison, I think we’d be on the right track.