Then: Election Night November 8, 2016

I fell asleep. The votes were still being counted. At three in the morning, I could feel this weird buzzing in the air. My love was awake, the cell phone light illuminating his face. He looked like he had been reading for hours. With my voice still sounding like gravel, I asked him. “Hunny, who is the president?

“Donald Trump.” My head lifted from my pillow, my eyelids thick slits. An alien chortle escaped my lips. “Whuuuuaattt?”

I was absolutely sure that he was lying to me, pulling my chain, purposely ruffling my feathers. Clearly he wanted me to give that “guy” some sort of airtime in my mind. Unlike some of my friends, who entertained his ridiculous and obviously staged “campaign,” I had resigned to ignoring him.

Anyone who has raised a toddler knows, what you give attention to increases. I turned a blind eye to his twitter tantrums, his sheer self-centered ignorance, his bad character and the long list of “isms” that he played into for cheap attention. I would not say his name. I would not dare change my peace, by complaining about him. I stopped scrolling on social media because I simply did not want to deal with the possibility of contemplating him as the president. I tucked him into the land of non existence. He was not a part of my reality. I set him on ice. I learned the facts and cast my well informed ballot. The night he was elected I realized that during the entire campaign season, I was grieving for an America that was only a dream. Phase one of grief. I was in a clear state of denial...

I swapped post election stories with mothers of different classes, religions and races. We felt...

“Slapped!”

“More of the Same!”

“Betrayed!”

“Dishonored!” And worse of all...

“Fearful!”

NOW: February 10, 2017

President Trump has been in office about three weeks.

I have heard the range of post election emotional experiences. Depending on your relationship with America this can be a time of intense confusion, pain and unrest. With the myriad of daily changes, the most challenging aspect can be, “WHAT DO I TEACH MY CHILDREN?”

As mothers, we are the population that has the most prominent hand in developing the future.. We must always check in with our hearts. What is your heart telling you to do? What is your heart telling you to stand for? What is your heart telling you to represent? Heart centered living is not based on a reaction of anything or anyone. Heart centered living is motivated by love. Love is the only power. So, before you act, put your hand on your heart and LISTEN.

Sit with yourself, review your own moral code of ethics. As we grow and continue to move with clear, dignified, strategies that are also compassionate our children will model our lives and follow suit.

FROM MY HEART TO YOURS

We are women! We are mothers! Now is the time to remember the power that we harness and manage daily. As mothers we have one foot in the present and one foot in the future. As we teach our children the realities of this world let us remember that we can have the best for all of our children...TOGETHER. With that collective vision as reality we are the most powerful force on the planet. Powerful with small shifts in our awareness our collective vision can be driven solely by LOVE.

We can hold conversations about local politics. We can hold conversations about one’s individual purpose. We can hold conversations about collective mobilization.

The children need to know where mommy stands even if you share a small conversation or have a tiny shift in behavior. The children need to know that you are a MOM RISING. The children need safe spaces to express their feelings. The children need spaces to practice compassion.

I believe Mr. Trump holds the highest office in our land for the purposes of:

1. Mobilizing our lives in more intense ways.
2. Intensifying organic and organized community building.
3. Living genuine heart centered lives thereby increasing our human power: LOVE.

#RevolutionaryLove

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"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." -Dr. King