What Will We Say This Season?

You know that Bible verse, for everything there is a season? I think there may be something to it. This may be our season to be angry and sad. So Brett Kavanaugh is our new Supreme Court Justice. How are we supposed to deal with that fact? It's been made real, there is nothing we can do to change it. You also know that whole thing about serenity. Accept the things you cannot change. So how do we accept this madness? I don't know, but we have to anyways. This may be the winter of our discontent, but that is our reality.There is no choice but to move on from this. We have to vote these senators out, no doubt. So how do we make sure the court does not shortchange women, minorities, the LGBT community, and healthcare? We march, we protest, we call our congresspeople. We don't give up.We cannot take this as defeat, it's really a setback, not a defeat. There is no defeat in this game. We don't ever lose America. We just don't. There are too many people who believe in the right things. The only way to get out of this mess is to see a way out of this mess. To see the possibility of good that this has created. To be positive.Since this Supreme Court Nominee stuff has happened there has been a resurgence in the resistance that is unprecedented. The left has never been this alive, wanting change. People are angry and they want to act out that anger at the polls.But you have heard all this before right? Please understand that I'm just as upset as anyone else that a rapist and extreme right-wing justice just got appointed to the highest court in the land. So why am I not crying? I have friends who have been personally triggered by this whole ordeal. It did trigger me a bit to watch Dr. Ford's testimony. However, I am of the mindset that too much time harping over the negative just brings you personally down.This time of year is usually very hard for me because there is less sunlight. But I'm making it through OK so far, and I don't want these people to have the power over me to make me depressed. Yes, I'm livid and afraid and sad about this whole situation. But no one, especially Trump and his crew, has the power to get into my brain and affect my sanity.I think that it is truly very terrifying to think about the things that The Supreme Court could do with a Republican majority. However, I'm not going to think about things that have not happened yet. I use this same theory when I think about my parents' deaths. I know it will happen, sooner rather than later, but I refuse to entertain those thoughts at the moment. What can I do now that they are alive? I have to focus on here and now.I don't want to imagine all of the atrocities the court could plague our nation with. What I want to do right now is think about what positive thing I can do to make this better. I'm getting my parents absentee ballots so they will vote for sure. I'm writing this, in order to give my opinion. That is the only form of resistance I know how to do.I think about the world as a whole, I have honestly thought about moving to Canada or India if things get really bad in America. I know that is extreme, but I am just as scared as you. I'm hoping I won't have to relocate. But I think we live in a world. I don't think there is anything superior about America. Women's rights could end in America and be the way they are in other countries.I always thought America was special. Now I just think it's a place to live in the world. The world is pretty big. This does not mean I'm giving up on America, and I know it's not practical for everyone to move across the world. So what are we going to do if things get really bad?We have to make a lot of noise, all of us before that happens. We all, all of us, have to vote.But what are we going to do personally, not just politically? How do we personally live through all this national trauma?I think we have to put into perspective. I am not suggesting we minimize it. This is horrific. This Supreme Court Nomination might be worse than Trump's election considering Trump has a maximum of eight years, while Kavanaugh has a lifelong appointment. I am not trying to say this isn't huge. It's probably the biggest political nightmare I have ever seen in my lifetime.But we have to remember that there are three branches of government and Democrats still have a chance with the other two branches. Perhaps we can get a majority in Congress and impeach the president. Now, I'm an optimist, I'm not an idiot. If Trump is not impeached, perhaps we can win the election in 2020.But what are we going to do right now? We are going to take a deep breath. We are going to sit down and make a plan for whatever way, whatever manner, in which we can help the election in both 2018 and 2020. Maybe you want to run or help someone you know to run. Maybe you just want to get people to vote. Maybe you just want to share your thoughts about all of these things by writing about it and publishing it somewhere. Or even writing a letter to the editor.I realize what is happening in this country is disgusting to many people. But I remember a quote by Martin Luther King, "Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." It sounds twisted and unrealistic but we have to show the other side, our political opponents that we love the people of America more than they do.I am too old to have a pregnancy, much less an abortion. But I will still fight for every woman to have one. I have pre-existing conditions, Republicans want to allow insurance companies to charge me a higher premium for that. A much higher premium. Do you know anyone who doesn't have a pre-existing condition? Or anyone who will not get one in the future. This affects everyone.This is not about us versus them, it's about all of us. Congress can make new laws, like a law that makes it so a Supreme Court Justice does not have a lifelong appointment. Justices can be impeached. There are ways to work around these things. There are options, we just have to create them. Perhaps Congress should have an amendment for Women's Rights in which it is the law that abortions are a woman's right, period.Nothing is written in stone. We can change things. We can change everything.But the first step is realizing that it's in our power. And then taking that power and using it.nina