I’m Not American…

…but even I’m well aware of just how painful the next few years are gonna be because it will have some kind of knock-on effect on the rest of us.

I was mostly sleeping while the results were rolling in, so I didn’t hear the outcome of the election until Wednesday morning when I got up. Maybe it’s because I had mentally prepped myself for the possibility that Trump would crawl his way back onto Pennsylvania Avenue or because I’ve been trying to be good to myself all week, but I wasn’t quite as upset or shocked by his win as I was expecting to be. For me, the most shocking part was that he not only won, but that he won so decisively. Not only did he win the all-too-important electoral college but he won the popular vote to boot.

I’m sure many people are in a state of shock and fear right now, and quite frankly, I don’t fucking blame them. I don’t blame anybody who’s currently feeling despair. Trump’s victory may not be all that surprising to me but that doesn’t make it any less upsetting. The pain and hurt that his administration is going to cause will be felt for generations to come, and in some cases, may never be fully healed.

I won’t lie. There’s plenty of cause for alarm at this current moment, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to seeing how people stand up to the current president-elect over the next couple of years, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Americans over the years, they really don’t like being told what to do… and that’s not just on the right-wing side of politics.

In the meantime, take care of yourselves more than ever, love one another and just keep being you.