Is It Election Day, Halloween, Solstice or Groundhog Day? Here's Your Guide to Coping & Celebrating While We Wait
(Scroll to the bottom to find out how to join me in a virtual Peaceful Celebration tonight 11/5)
Is Winter Solstice early this year?
Tonight may seem like the longest night of the year as we await the results of the most momentous election of our lives. It may even stretch on for weeks, depending on not only the vote tally but the expected challenges to follow.
But it’s not Yuletide yet. Today might also feel like the longest day, but it sure doesn’t seem like Summer Solstice here in New England! Yep, it’s definitely November outside my window, complete with dry leaves drifting, spurts of rain and blasts of sideways sunlight squeezed between rolling clouds, along with last minute texts and messages asking for support before polls close.
We did just add an hour with the time change over the weekend, but this process will take the time it takes. I don’t want it to drag on or get stuck in the courts, nor do I want anyone to rush things and, say, tell states to stop counting or re-counting before they’re actually finished. We’ve seen that horror movie before, and I’m not hoping for a sequel.
Anxiety is optional
I was on a Holy Woman healing circle call this morning with about a hundred priestesses, and then another two hundred colleagues in LWS Writers’ Hour, not to mention checking in with over 115,000 Cat Ladies on social media, and feelings are ranging from sleepless despair to hopeful exuberance. Folks from Canada and farther abroad are cheering us on - and also biting their nails.
While waiting offers stress and anxiety, we can also choose what internal channel we tune to, including relief that it will be over soon and we've done what we can do, what we've chosen to do.
I’ve sent Reiki, said my spells and prayers, lit blue candles, returned my ballot two weeks ago, phone banked, donated, encouraged others to vote and get involved, watched fun rallies with comics, chefs, celebrities, Cat Ladies, White Dudes, Geeks & Nerds, Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and Independents, and proudly sported my Chucks and pearls in three states.
-> Add your voice: What have you done this election season to contribute to the community and world you want to help create?
Is Halloween over yet?
This certainly feels like the scariest election ever! Especially since we saw what horrors can actually happen in 2016. But we can also learn from Halloween’s sister holidays Samhain and Dia de los Muertos. Ancestors and historical perspectives can help us understand what’s happening now, and consider what legacy we want to carry forward. We can even create rituals of harvest and transformation to release what we want to let go and welcome in what we want to manifest.
-> Try this: Write down what’s bothering you and burn the paper in a safe place like a cauldron or over the toilet. Exhale, envisioning all you want to release just blowing away. Then write, draw or make a collage of what you want in life and in the world, and post it someplace where you’ll see it often. Breathe it into your body and your being. You can come back here and share in the comments what happens after you do this. I know it will be amazing!
Our work today is the same as every day
Whoever we voted for, whoever is elected because we did not vote, whatever else we do today . . . it’s still a day like any other, even as it is a day like no other!
It started to feel like the movie Groundhog Day lately, with every morning and evening news report and poll proclaiming a perfect tie within the margin of error and candidates doubling down on messages so completely contrasting that I heard it described on NPR as the Men Are from Mars and Women Are from Venus campaign. Actually, it appears men are indeed headed to Mars and women are trying to save Earth from imminent disaster.
And yet, this day is a culmination of all the days before and an opening to all the days to come. I’d love to hear from you in the comments, because we’re all in this together even if we come in from different sides and viewpoints, and understanding each other better is the only way we’ll be able to move forward.
-> Add your voice: What difference will it make in your life? Will either outcome motivate you to more deeply devote to creating the world you desire in your bones? Can life go back to normal after this crazy campaign season, or is there no new normal anymore? What do you hope or fear will change or stay the same with the official result?
When time stands still
Liminal spaces are sacred spaces. The in-between moments when it almost feels like time stops, these were sacred to many of our ancestors. Dawn and dusk, Equinoxes and Solstices, Dark and Full Moons, even waking and falling asleep are thresholds between what was and what will be.
These are times when we can pause and reflect, besides distracting ourselves from updates we know won’t be conclusive - so stop scrolling! When we quiet down, sometimes things arise that are uncomfortable, that we keep at bay by being busy. It’s okay, that’s normal and healthy. Instead of turning away from these feelings, we can practice holding them with compassion. Here’s my current favorite stress-reducing exercise.
-> Try this: Notice your breathing and start to let it fill your belly with each breath. Before you breathe out, expand your chest just a little more and then let it go. Before you breathe in, contract your chest a bit more to let even more breath out. Blowing that breath out with a gentle “whoosh” can help too. Repeat, then go back to natural breathing when you’re ready.
This is a way we can create that in-between space, or feel like we can slow time even for a moment before we rush off to the next chore or meeting. We can welcome this time-out today as we wait for Americans to finish casting votes for President all the way down the ballot to the lowly Justice of the Peace.
A likely outcome
I decided to run for JP, because it’s a way I can contribute to the functioning of our local democracy, with a time commitment I can manage even as I continue to recover from major surgery and losses of the last several years. In a town of just over 700 souls we expect our vote count to be completed tonight, so hopefully tomorrow I’ll be qualified to help steward future elections and, yes, officiate marriages.
I’m not holding my breath over that race - spoiler alert! I’m running unopposed to fill a vacant seat. So if you’re eligible to vote in Vershire, Vermont but haven’t voted yet, I hope you’ll head to the polls before 7 pm and help elect our first woman of color President and then flip over the ballot and check the box by my name on the back. I couldn't be prouder and more grateful for the opportunity to run - and hopefully to serve - with the Lotus Goddess* herself, Kamala Devi Harris.
Celebrate with me tonight!
So let the celebrations begin! I invite you to join me this evening at 7 on Zoom, to be together in this historic moment, sharing what helps us make the most of challenging times like these, and our visions for the best future for all.
-> To get the Zoom link, just email connect@essentialarts.net or fill out the form at the bottom of any page on essentialarts.net to subscribe to the Essential Arts newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time, and I’d love to see you tonight, to honor all you’ve done, all you still long for, and how we can support one another.
*Kamala represents the Goddess Lakshmi and the lotus flower, and Devi means Goddess, Mother Goddess and the Goddess Durga https://www.thelist.com/235714/the-surprising-meaning-of-kamala-harris-name/
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