Freckled. Girl. Talk...

'We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.' Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

A week prior to Election Day, I took this photo of Mr. Captain America skateboard guy. 
Him and his decorated shield looked like the epitome of strength.  No better timing.

It has been a long week and it has left this Canadian privileged to live and work in America feeling flummoxed.  And it's okay to feel this way just like pretty much half of the rest of the population does.  To the other half "Contact him and tell him, I support you, I voted for you, and I demand that you stop saying these things."  With that said, I challenge us all to embrace the sure things in life among the uncertainty that lies ahead. Here are a few things of what I know to be certain:

I have a lovely job and work for a great company.  Thank you.

I have a house of my own that I enjoy with my husband and two lovely children.

We love spending time with our children making every day an adventure.

AND we love spending time with our families, soon Steven's parents will be here for the Thanksgiving week and then a trip to see my entire family come mid-January!
 

Make yourself a list, it will only make you feel happy inside.  Especially during this time where a lot of us are simply trying to understand, cope and if vocal, trying to find the right words to say what will maintain our hope for a better tomorrow and for a better future.  

Think happy thoughts, stay calm all and be filled to the brim with hope.

In an open letter by Jennifer Lawrence which I wholeheartedly agree with, she writes:

Is this the stark reality? It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how qualified you are, at the end of the day, if you’re not a man? Is that what we just learned? This country was founded on immigration and today the only people that feel safe, that their rights are recognized and respected are white men.

I want to be positive; I want to support our democracy, but what can we take away from this? It’s a genuine question that we all need to ask ourselves. We shouldn’t blame anyone, we shouldn’t riot in the streets. We should think strongly and clearly about what to do next because we cannot change the past.

If you’re worried about the health of our planet, find out everything you can about how to protect it. If you’re worried about racial violence love your neighbor more than you’ve ever tried to before—no matter what they believe or who they voted for. If you’re afraid of a wall putting us all into another recession then organize and stand against it.

If you’re a woman and you’re worried that no matter how hard you work or how much you learn, there will always be a glass ceiling, then I don’t really know what to say. I don’t know what I would tell my daughter if I were you. Except to have hope. To work for the future.

We’re all allowed to be sad that the present isn’t what we thought it was. But we mustn’t be defeated. We will keep educating ourselves and working twice as hard as the man next to us because we know now that it is not fair. It is not fair in the workplace, so you make it impossible to fail. And like Hillary, it might not work.

But like Hillary, you can still be an inspiration and get important things done. Do not let this defeat you—let this enrage you! Let it motivate you! Let this be the fire you didn’t have before. If you are an immigrant, if you are a person of color, if you are LGBTQ+, if you are a woman—don’t be afraid, be loud!