The Mirror that is Donald Trump
Election night. I’m in the office while CNN plays on mute in the living room so I can monitor those red and blue numbers in the corner every time I walk by. Currently blue is up and I think given the circumstances that seems to be a good thing. Not that the choices were that overwhelming. Sheesh….I’m glad I don’t have to vote.
I remember after coming out of the 2016 post election shock-mode that I found myself in for about 6 months, glued to the tv to see what fresh hell each day would bring, I began to really wonder, why? Why this man for president? This reality tv star. This obvious narcissist and bald-faced liar. Really? I mean I guess anybody really can achieve anything. I mean…am I missing something here? There had to be a larger purpose, even if this blimp was blissfully unaware of his part in it.
But I hold to my belief that everything has a purpose and reason. Everything. And there’s always has a reason. And the reason for this is big. Bigger than you or I know and more far-reaching than any of us could imagine. And yet I feel no fear over this. And frankly, I don’t care who wins tonight. It’s all part of a bigger picture. A larger truth with which we are all along for the ride.
It feels to me that a major shift is taking place. A change of pace in people’s mentality. A sense of awareness that compassion and truth and love are the only way forward. A knowing that acceptance of others no matter what is the best way to honour our differences. Not all of us have gotten there yet but we will. Good change can take a long time and I think this might take a while but good things are coming.
And I think Trump had a hand in it.
Not intentionally of course. That’s a laugh. But I like to think that Trump was a wild card that the universe just tossed into this swirling vortex of greed and corruption like a wrench tossed into the whirling blades of a Boeing 747. Time to break some shit! Things usually get worse before they get better. Only trouble is I don’t know where we are on that worse to better timeline.
I think maybe the only campaign promise he actually kept was the one about draining the swamp. He did that for sure and its still draining. Turns out he was the plug. But thankfully orange so he’s much easier to spot!
But all kidding aside, to me Trump is a mirror. A mirror that shows us who we are. He reflects what we as a society, as a continent have become. Because even tho I’m Canadian, what happens in the US still affects us. And let’s not kid ourselves, Canada is headed in the same direction if we’re not careful.
We’ve all been playing the “trump card” ( I’ve been waiting to use that!) a bit too long now. Blaming everyone else for everything that we perceive to be wrong in our lives. Ignoring and avoiding the need to look inward instead of pointing fingers outward. Assuming the worst about others intentions because we understood a text the wrong way or suing someone at slightest indication that we have been taken advantage of or have been wronged somehow. And in general acting like very spoiled children whenever we don’t get our way or get something quick enough or aren’t treated quite as respectfully as we feel we deserve.
I speak in very general terms to be sure. I know that there are so many good and aware people out there who are waking up the beauty and kindness and compassion that exists everywhere in this world, but I speak as a society, as a culture. And we all play a part in it whether we admit it or not. To me he’s the representation of everything that’s wrong in our society. Too strong? Maybe but I’m leaving it.
And I get it. I’m right there with you. In fact, I don’t even like to write these words because I feel so hypocritical. I often feel like the worst of the bunch. But truth is still the truth and this feels truthful to me.
We are being shown who we’ve become in the person of Donald Trump. Like a very much uglier and fatter old man of a lady liberty, this shameful chapter in our soon-to-be-written history books is pointing right back at us. We created this monster.
But there is a bright side here as well. There is an opportunity here. Knowledge is indeed power because once you know what’s wrong, the potential for fixing it grows exponentially!
This is the opportunity.
Trump may be showing me the worst of who I am but the opportunity for me then is to recognize this trumpness in my life and then begin to change it. With the knowing that love conquers fear and by removing all judgement towards myself I can simply begin to make the choices necessary for change to take place.
You know what works for you and I know what works for me but in the end we’re all gonna have to change a bit here. We might need to change a bit in our compassion toward those we’ve been trained to think of as ‘less than’. We might need to start to think about what’s happening on a global scale as it pertains to food and water supply for every human on the planet. We might need to start thinking of all of life as ONE entity. Recognizing that communication, vulnerability and openness are more powerful than any divorce papers or lawsuit ever will be. We might need to learn to cry again. To find the pride in demonstrating emotion. We might need to learn to love a bit more.
Do you get the picture? This list is endless really because each one of us has a way in which we need to grow a bit. But that’s where variety comes in and the more you see people begin to understand that it’s not hard work to be kind, it’s not difficult to care, it’s not a loss of self to love another, the more you’ll begin to sense the shift. All the uproar of today’s insanity is simply the dying wails of an outdated way of life. A shell that needs to be ripped off so the new can be born and brought to life. Trump is showing you what needs to be ripped off. Just let it happen. It’ll be good, you’ll see!
The only way that BIG picture change happens is if that little picture change happens. If alllllll the millions of little pictures began to change. And they allllll started to choose love over fear and they alllll chose compassion over their own comfort and security, if they all chose to accept and care for one another like everyone was family, the big picture would look so much different don’t you think?
We are ONE. There is no getting away from that. It’s a concept that took me many years to begin to see but I see it everywhere now. You are me and I am you. So it really all comes back to that one rule that everyone calls golden and that is: treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. And I’d add: treat yourself the way you want to be treated.
So there you have it. Just my opinion in a world of opinions. Take it or leave it. Agree or disagree.
Cheers!
BD
Originally published at http://benjiesblog.org on November 4, 2020.
