They say if you don't like the weather in New England to simply wait, as it's bound to change. I suppose that's true with most things in this world. From human-made contraptions like the traffic light to natural phenomenons like the ocean's tide, things change. If we wait long enough.
Here are some changes and lengths of time I've been waiting for (some longer than others):
At least 2 hours for dinner time to roll around.
3 months for daily chronic headaches to disappear.
9 months for a sweet National Park game to arrive that I backed on Kickstarter.
8 months for a global pandemic to pass.
1382 days, 6 hours and some change for a different president.
30 or so years for an adult molar to push my last baby tooth out.
I know there are a million other things that I've been waiting for, most of them trivial when compared to the grand scheme of things. I've discovered that a great way to see just how much time I have been waiting on certain things is to revisit old journal entries. Oddly enough, I found one from November 16th, 2016 and figured I would share it given that tomorrow is Election Day in which we will determine our Nation's fate for yet another four years.
To set the scene: this entry was written adjacent to a "I Voted" sticker stuck to the page.
Okay, so I thought that sticker would be historic...in a way it is but not in the way I had hoped. Ole' Donal Trump was elected as our next president, what the fuck America? So as a result, I've spend the last week solid as a depressed heap of human flesh. Today I finally feel like maybe I can snap out of it. It's a hard thing these days to be a compassionate human being. Alas, I will continue to try.
I've definitely been waiting (now for 1382 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 37 seconds) for a change of monumental proportion. I obviously have no clue what the outcome of this election will be. At this point I can only hope.
I don't expect all those that read this entry to agree with me, and that's okay. I don't expect all those that read this entry will respect my dignity as a human being, and that is not okay. And it's that lack of respect (and at times hateful rage) I can no longer wait and wade among. I can't help but hope that the 40 mph winds gusting outside are a sign of change on the horizon.
As Harriet Beecher Stowe once said, “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time when the tide will turn.”
Maybe that place and time is tomorrow.
