November 11, 2016

Education. Book. Knowledge. Words.

It’s late and I am in Jakarta. My brain is fried. Reading too much. Thinking to much. Discussing too much. Feeling too much. I have people emailing me thanking me for my thoughts, while an old friend said I am being toxic. I am having fifteen conversations my head every hour and thinking of twenty different things to write. This level of analysis is not sustainable.

I read one article that clearly resonates with me and articulates my dread perfectly. Then the very next one makes me doubt what I just agreed with. I am weighed down by guilt and sadness and anger. And exhaustion.

The next four years will be taxing, but we don’t have to figure it all now. Whether we listen or protest. Fight or try to understand. All of these things will work themselves out. We are human beings on our road to evolution and this election like all human events is but one speck in the grand scheme of things.

I am not giving in or giving up. Just saying that after a few days of watching swastikas painted on walls, or being called smug because I am educated, or being told that I should fight harder or cry softer or just accept it or never give up has got me spinning.

I have nothing intelligent or profound to say, other than we need to take care of ourselves first before we can help others. I am going to crawl into this giant hotel bed and get some rest, because tomorrow I will be working with a group of educators, trying to find ways to make non-fiction reading relevant and powerful for young readers.

I am not sure if these actions will have any effect on American politics, or if we will in anyway get any closer to peace and understanding, but I know that it is my skill set and it is the path I have chosen, so my fight starts tomorrow with the best tool I know of: Education. Book. Knowledge. Words.

Oh and Leonard Cohen….so so much to say. I very much look forward to writing that post when my brain settles.

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