As our entire country moves from election mode, its people breathe deep and slowly settle down to Earth. The historians and political analysts are busy, buried in mountains of data and trying to make some sense of what it all means.Op-ed writers are churning out opinions. And folks gathered over lunch or coffee are dissecting the turn of events.
It is hard to step far enough back to gain some perspective! However, a few things do stand out. Most parents lag behind their children's growth - still seeing grade-schoolers when their kids have moved on to middle school. Likewise, our country is changing rapidly - and like being parents, most people do not fully comprehend those changes.
The rapidity of technological change coupled with demographic changes are moving us faster and faster into some version of a new, more complex culture. But what we can name are the feelings each of us has that are generated in the aftermath of this election.
The 2008 election was called historic with election of a mixed-racial man to the presidency. How could anything top that! But as we reflect on this 2012 election, I suspect this year will be considered even more historic. Unexpectedly.
Feelings? Perhaps, just perhaps we have sloughed through years of paralysis to possibilities of hope. To be able to work together by bringing our differences to the table - to create solutions to tough problems.
Perhaps it is the strong visual images of the monster storm called Sandy. I think of the NYC I know and cannot imagine how some kind of semi-permanent shelter can be found for so many people left homeless. Yet, it will happen - somehow. Smart people working together will do the impossible. In the process, they won't all agree, they may argue some, but in the end New Yorkers will not spend a long cold winter huddled over bonfires in the streets.
The weeks and months ahead will not be easy. Smart people will not all agree - and they certainly will argue. But somehow, just maybe there is hope in the air.
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