Donald Trump: A Cancer Diagnosis For The US

The US has just been given a cancer diagnosis.

I now know what it’s like to get a cancer diagnosis.

The bottom drops out of your world.  You’re stunned and numb.  You’re horrifically frightened.  You can’t think straight. You wonder if there’s anything you can do. Physically you feel like you’ve been beaten with a stick.  Nothing matters any longer. Everything is on the line.

America just got a cancer diagnosis.  So did the entire world.

Donald Trump was elected President.

Until last night I had hope for this country.  I thought for sure that like an airplane in a nosedive, we’d pull up at the last minute.

We didn’t.

I honestly thought we were better than this.

The cancer of ignorance, fear, xenophobia, bigotry, lies, bullying, hateful nationalism & racism exploded across the United States in a red wave.  Where once I had hope for this nation that surely we’d defeat this demagogue, it slipped away with every announced result.

Repression, regression & suspicion are a part of this cancer, too.  Right-wing Christianity has gotten its foot in the door, as have the racist hate groups. Our Vice President-Elect, Mike Pence, is a fanatical anti-gay, anti-abortion Christian conservative and Tea Party supporter.  Republicans won the House and Senate.  I fear that we will see the demolition of all the progress we’ve made in women’s rights to choose, marriage equality, rights and advancements for people of color, immigrants, the environment and climate change, worker rights, consumer protections, healthcare – this list goes on and on.

The only hope I have at the moment is that some sense of sanity remains in the halls of our government. Hopefully the checks and balances put forth by our Founding Fathers hold sway against the desires & actions of  this mentally  and emotionally unstable man, this political ignoramus, this cancer, and his cronies.

Like all diagnosed with cancer, I desperately hope there is some treatment, any treatment, that works.

An Activist Is Something You Are

I guess because I’m an old hippie, part of the 60’s generation which cut our teeth on the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. We tried to raise the red flag on the environment and other causes. Perhaps, too, it’s because I’m a Libra:  the sign of justice and peace.

There is strength in numbers. Speak out, stand up for your rights and the rights of our fellow human beings!

One of the search terms that appears on my site here is the word “activism” and “how to be an activist.”

Activism is not so much something to “be” but more of a sense of what one is. Complacency about social issues does not make for good activism. Self-centered or wearing blinders isn’t conducive either.

Passion and love are also about activism. Compassion, too, is a large part of activism and so is anger! What moves you for the good of all? What enrages your soul about conditions, be they societal,  environmental, political or other?

Activism is many words: love, hate, compassion, sympathy, anger, hope, dreams, vision and direction.

It feels.

It is the fighter, the  Muhammad Ali in us but also the compassion of Mother Teresa. It is the determination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the peace of  Gandhi. It is the rage of every protest and a desire for accomplishment.

It is not for one but for all.

Whether you take on Wal-Mart, the NRA, civil rights, human rights, the environment,  our food system, animal rights, protection of children, the elderly, the greed of corporate America or politics – the list is endless – as are the emotions.

Activism is not a flat-line of spirit.  It is up and down, a heartbeat and alive. It is consciousness and moving forward.  Its direction is always for the good of all; never for the greed of one.

Activism is getting out there, connecting with those of like minds no matter what the cause.

It is writing, reading, researching and getting facts straight for your cause. Information is key to any battle, something that every four star general will tell you.  Know your “enemy,” your subject because for every fact that is hurled from you there will one hundred that are flung back in your face.

Like molasses, activism can be slow going.  One step at a time.  Like a sculptor, pieces fall but they also come together in the final piece.  This is why the minds of many are helpful. Activism is patience and also give and take. It is focus and determination.

So, activism is not something that you can BE – it is something that you are from your soul because it encompasses so much of you.

Are you ready?