Coping

A long hiatus between posts. Lots of us around the world are channeling Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her grief stages since the American election and we don’t even live there. Like others I pretended to say “Whatever” and never watched CNN and turned to favourite neurotic writers like Anne Lamott who could be counted on for despair on Face Book - and of course she delivered. It helped.

I could still scan headlines of the New York Times as long as I didn’t read the articles about cabinet picks. Our prime minister was off to dinner at the Mar-A-Logo- Verseilles Headquarters to see if he could charm the incoming president out of 25% tariffs. I read Jaret Lanier’s little book on why we should all leave social media and put leaving on my task list for consideration. Since I had paid to remove advertisements from YouTube and I could watch it on a big screen, this provided additional diversion.

But I did come across an interview from the 92nd street Y - that gave me hope. It featured two public figures that I like - Tom Friedman and Van Jones - (despite the abandoned CNN connection). Jones told an interesting story to Tom. After writing a scathing column about Jared Kushner after the 2016 election, he was surprised to get a call from him - asking for help. Kushner reminded Jones that when his father was in prison, it gave him insight into how bad the prison system really was. He knew Jones had written about it with real conviction. He invited him to work quietly on some legislation and Jones agreed. It was one of the few successful pieces of legislation in the first Trump presidency. Helping out, Jones said, has cost him several friendships because of working with '“the other side”. But it felt like the right thing to do and gave him considerable satisfaction. Working for good with people we don’t necessarily agree with has to be part of the answer. And even Anne Lamott, now happily married at last has a new book out that says, when it comes right down to it, in the end it’s all about Love.