The long road of the past two years has revealed one thing to me: there are people in this country who feel abandoned, isolated, and ignored by their own country. Although feelings are not facts, one's feelings need to be validated because they are true to the person who owns them. Trump offered validation to those who felt left behind. His supporters may not have agreed with all of the things he said or did, but they felt like he "got" them and that mattered more than anything else.
We are at a new juncture. The consequences of trump's policies are being realized; many run contrary to the validation he espoused and promises he made. In fact, trump's policies probably are hurting some of his voters, primarily farmers, more than the status quo would have had all been left alone. Some of his supporters are starting to feel this reality. Let them. Let them feel the consequences of their vote, but don't turn your back on them. Instead, listen to them. Invite them to share their experiences. Encourage them to talk about their feelings. Why? you ask. Because compassion matters.
For many people, talking to those who hold an opposing political viewpoint has become so frustrating that communication has ceased. People have disengaged. Family members have cut other family members off. Friends have unfriended each other on social media. Folks have stopped watching the news. Americans are burnt out and we have nearly two years to go. Stonewalling one another is not sustainable. We must build bridges not walls.
Blaming each other is pointless; it only sews seeds of division that will be exploited further. We are stronger together. United we stand, divided we fall, remember? Is trump really worth abandoning the ones you love and care about? I say no, he's not.
Imagine that we are all at Union Station, Ground Zero. There are 20 different rail lines coming in and 20 departing the station. We can debate to death the nuances about how we arrived here or we can start anew. This is where we are. It matters not how we got here. We need to let that go. The question we need to ask is, Which train is going to get us out of here and who is coming with us?
This will not be easy. Nothing that is ever worth doing is easy. But it is necessary. We must take the hands of those who have felt left behind, listen with love and compassion, ask for their help to find a solution, and bring them with us to a better place. Ignoring them will only strengthen the case for another reign of trump.
