Welcome on a new edition of my weekly ritual, Gratitude Friday (if you are not familiar with it, please go read how it came up and what it is about).
You may disagree with me on this, but this is okay. Half of this week has been heartbreaking for me and for half of your nation if you live in the US. I don’t (I am both French and Canadian, born and raised in France but immigrated with my family to Canada in 2009. Country we work hard to get the citizenship, that was granted to us last year).
Today, I am still grieving. Today, I am still scared. And it will take time, maybe a lot of it, to feel comfortable again. In my opinion, both candidates had their flaws yes. However, I make it my life line to choose love, to choose compassion, to give when I can to those who need it. How can I accept racism (I come from a bi-racial couple, and created a mixed family when I met my SoulMate who happens not to share my skin color) ? How can I accept a President who made fun of women, who made fun of anyone with a difference ? I can’t. I keep telling myself “it might not be as bad as what he presented while campaigning” “we might be surprised”.
I lost sleep. I cried under the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away my fear of tomorrow, would take my fury and that I had read the results wrong. But it is all the new reality. He makes visible half of a country that was somehow in hiding.
So I do what I do best: I turn to creativity and to Gratitude. Taking time more and more everyday to remind myself of my own privileges, even as a person with a brown skin. We are not broken. But we can still do the inner and the outter work, finding ways together to make it work. Respecting each other, even the neighbor or the family member that does not share your core values. I know we can do it. It is so much more than just you in the US even though you are the first one impacted by what your country is shaping into… I love you.
Gratitude will not take your pain away. It will not put your head in the sand. Gratitude will grant you the power to acknowledge your power.
I strongly invite you to count your blessings, a little reality check of sorts.
This week, I am thankful for:
☆ The acceptance of my couple from our families and friends
☆ The two beautiful girls born from our love, how different they look from us, from each other.
☆ Living in a country that values us as Immigrants.
☆ Artists of all spheres coming together, speaking their Truths.
☆ The freedom to express myself.
☆ Time spent with my husband, just the two of us.
☆ My Mom, this pillar in our lives.
☆ The chance to have a Studio in our home, a refuge of sorts.
☆ The power of Love and Compassion.
And I leave you with this message that matters so much: