Today’s post title is a mantra, which I use (and you can too!) to remind myself (a) not to numb out or play it cool and (b) that finding the good in life is a muscle we need to exercise.
Some days it’s easier than others.
Skip to the next heading if you don’t want to read my take on the recent elections
For instance, Tuesday night (and yesterday, and even today) have provided lots of BIG reasons to celebrate, at least as far as I am concerned. After two years of cruel federal government policies, created by the administration and also our (GOP-led) Congress, it was wonderful to see so many people in the country stand up and repudiate that. It being an “off” year, there were a lot of governorships up as well, so it was delightful to watch so many become blue . . . and female.
Even in states like Florida, which stayed under Republican control and sent another Republican Senator to DC, progress was made. The governor and senator who won only did so by about 2% of the vote each, when they were expected to have much higher margins. The state house remained “red”, BUT the Republicans lost their supermajorities in both houses, which means there’s no more rubber stamp there.
We saw the following “firsts”:
first “out” gay man in the Senate (Chris Pappas from New Hampshire)
first Native American woman in the U.S. Senate (Peggy Flanagan from Minnesota)
first Muslim Senator (Abdul El-Sayed from Michigan)
first Black woman governor in the United States (Keisha Lance Bottoms from Georgia)
first Mexican-American woman governor of Texas (Gina Hinojosa)
first Mexican-American governor of California (Xavier Becerra)
first Native American governor in U.S. history (Deb Haaland in New Mexico)
Plus many states went “blue” for the first time in a long time, including Texas. Several got a blue “trifecta”, meaning both houses of the state house plus the governorship went blue. As of this writing, it is looking increasingly like Mississippi will be sending its first Black Senator (a Democrat named Scott Colom) to Congress. Supermajorites in South Carolina and Florida statehouses were lost.
Other things I’ve celebrated the past few months
Here in southern New Jersey, the fall leaves have been spectacular this year. The nights have been cool and crisp, meaning there’s excellent sleeping weather, and the temperatures have been extremely pleasant. It was even nice for trick-or-treating, which is never a given thing.
Fall is my favorite season, and having a lovely, extended fall has been a complete delight.
I have also really enjoyed my personal magical practice, which has included reading tarot, harvesting herbs from my small garden, and making thyme syrup to treat coughs and sore throats, along with simple spell work including a money bowl, my ongoing banishing spell for ICE (that I do at least once per week), and blowing cinnamon in through my open door.
I also spent some time visiting with ancestors over the past week or so—with offerings of rum cake, Jameson whiskey, and marigolds on my small ancestral altar. Though my favorite time spent with ancestors might be Morris’s mom and his aunts, whom I never met, popping in to tell me that my recipe for cabbage rolls was lacking and would have benefitted from the addition of raisins and chopped olives. (Having eaten the ones I made, I have to concede that they may have been right—mine were a little bland—and I would definitely try it their way next time.)
I continue to spend time with my grandbaby, whom I babysit three days a week while their mom works from home. I made their Halloween costume: a small porcupine. They were “Norman” (whom they call Noo-noo), from the book series by Ryan T. Higgins, and my daughter and son-in-law were trees (Norman’s best friend Mildred is a tree, and one of the books features “the other tree” as well).
My favorite porcupette
Did you know that baby porcupines are called porcupettes? Well, now you do. My grandbaby didn’t enjoy having the hood up, but I think you can still tell they were a porcupine (especially if you saw them walking around in it).
In early October, Morris and I went on a quick cruise to Bermuda. We left from Baltimore, and enjoyed five days traveling on the Vision of the Seas, along with my bestie from college. It was lovely to get away, and I especially enjoyed our short time at Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda.
Horseshoe Bay, Bermuda
Pink sand, gorgeous rock formations, lovely weather
We disembarked on October 8th, drove home from Baltimore, grabbed a different set of suitcases, and headed to the airport in Philly to fly to San Diego for a family wedding. The ridiculously hot heat wave they were experiencing broke earlier in the day that we arrived. The outdoor wedding at a winery in the hills north of San Diego was beautiful and the weather was perfection—and then it rained the next day. They literally got married on the one “good” day of the entire week, which seems auspicious and they deserve it!
Other small things that I am celebrating include plans I’m making, a gift I purchased for myself (y’all, I am spoiling myself because I ordered the Fortnum and Mason Tea & Biscuits Advent Calendar, and it is in the corner of my office, bringing me joy), my new glasses, books I am reading, the new Great British Bakeoff season, my renewed blue hair color, and more.
Because when I notice the abundance all around me—whether it’s an abundance of leaves that need to be raked thanks to our neighbors’ trees or an abundance of leftover cheesecake from the one I baked on the weekend—it is much easier to be grateful. And it is easier to feel a bit of happiness, even on a grey day.
The more I celebrate now, the more abundance will continue to show up.
And so it is.