by Steve Harrison

It’s the day after the election, and I’m finding it hard to sit still. I’m trying to find some comfort in the results, trying to make sense of what they mean for the country, my communities, and me.

The left experienced a devastating loss, the MAGA right, a righteous win. Over the next few weeks, months, and years much will be written about what caused these results and how we move forward.

Many on the left will want to blame someone, but today I’m not feeling like there is anyone to blame. Kamala Harris couldn’t have made her position and her character any clearer. Neither could Donald Trump. There is much that both sides don’t want to see or understand about the other. The people have spoken; the Republicans won and now we have to figure out how to move forward, how to live with one another, how to find what’s good in one another, how to be the United States.

Like many people who live in Claremont, I am surrounded by a lot of smart people. I look to them for wisdom and insight into many things, including how we process what happened. It was a resounding condemnation of what many perceived to be the way the country was going, and the way Harris proposed to solve some of the problems we face. I can say with much assurance that I do not have the answers. I feel I know nothing.

The first step for me in getting out of my funk and trying to make sense of this Republican rout is to process what happened. Part of my process is writing. Luckily, I’m able to share my thinking, my process, with all of you. I’ve been lucky enough to do it through my many haiku and now through these articles. It helps me figure out what I think. I’m grateful to have a place to share.

So what’s next? It seems like we all have to keep it simple. Recovery, reconciliation, starts with admitting we are obviously a country divided, and maybe not just two parties, but many groups. Maybe — hopefully — we can be united by common values under the American flag and the unity we find as Americans. But maybe that is just too much to expect. Maybe we have to think much simpler than that. Maybe it begins with the dictum, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Respect for one another shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

For me admitting my fears is an important step in moving forward and getting outside myself. I fear governing and world diplomacy are too much for a 78-year-old. I fear unleashed prejudices, toxic masculinity parading as strength, and unbridled bullying. I fear a leader whose biggest goal is payback for his enemies. I fear no big ideas that will really help the struggling. I fear someone who can’t recognize that leaders need to reassure.

To move forward we have to recognize that forward isn’t backward. This democratic experiment started nearly 250 years ago, and it has not been without its sputters and starts, its changes and modifications. It’s never been an all-or-nothing competition.

Moving forward is going to take effort on everyone’s part to remember baby steps are fine and everyone needs time to adjust and sort things out.