9 November 2016: Yesterday, I sat with my finger over the "publish" button for several minutes before publishing the day's post. It was the post's title that was hanging me up. It's so relentlessly positive. And I kept thinking, "But what if she doesn't win? Will I still feel that way?" I thought about hedging my bets a bit and going with the original post title ("History..."). But in the end, I left it as is. It was, I think, a sign of stubborn faith in this country and its people. I told myself, even if he does win, I will still feel that way about my country: We are lucky to be alive right now in this world, in this moment. Because we have the power to love and hope and pray and change and get work done.
One of my favorite literary critics, Sacvan Bercovitch, writes about the power and flexibility of American ideology. ("America, you great unfinished symphony...") For better or worse, it tells us we are always on our way to becoming the thing we are supposed to come. It tells us that dissent is actually assent, a way of staying in the system, working from within to make it better. Those ideas are sometimes problematic, but today, I find them comforting.
So yeah: lots of writers are running through my head today--Thoreau, Whitman, Alcott, and of course, Miranda. They, too, bring comfort.
I am so very sad and anxious. But I am also determined and hopeful. I think that those feelings--determination and hope, in all their messiness--are today's good things. But to stick to the rules, I am going to go with that line from Hamilton... It feels right and soothes my soul. Let's get to work, America.*
*Yup: the last episode of Angel, too, continues to come to mind when I need it to. (See #1 on the list in this post.)
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