“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” – Albert Einstein.
I want to write today about the mysterious, the unexpected, the surprising. There is always more mystery, wrote Anais Nin. I would not wish to live in a world without dragons, and I would not want to live in a world without magic.
Both are flourishing inside of my life.
Some people love Donald Trump, some people do not. I am a lover of democracy, and I believe the people are ultimately wise. I’m not writing this to join the fray for further widen the divide, I’m not writing to endorse him or to condemn him..
Freedom is not a simple or pretty business. It’s worth the tussle.
I’ll leave arguing about the President to the left and the right and to cable news.
On Valentine’s Day, I’m in a reflective an analytical mood. I woke up thinking about the impact this quite unusual man has had upon my life over the past year, and I honestly can’t think of a politician who has affected me more.
There are many things about Donald Trump that I am grateful for. He has, in the oddest and most surprising ways, enriched and expanded my life in his short time in public office.
He has awakened me to the importance of freedom and empathy. He got me off my butt and out into the world and eager to do good.
He has inspired me to think about democracy and what it means to me, and to actively practice my values, rather than just spout them at dinner parties.
He has re-connected me to my immigrant and refugee roots, a seminal part of my life that I had pretty much left behind in my steady march towards assimilation in America.
He reminds me that what I most love about America is its openness and generosity of spirit and moral presence in the wold. Something worth getting involved in, thus bringing me to the Army Of Good, a powerful band of loving angels and good Samaritans..
He has reminded me to remember my disconnected roots as a Jew, it seems the Nazi’s are marching in our streets this time.
Whether one likes Donald Trump or not, and I have plenty of people on both sides reading my blog, I think Americans as a whole are re-thinking, re-imaging, and participating in their idea of government by voting, community service, political activism. I believe many good things will come of it, many good things already have.
The President seems skilled at speaking to the blue-collar working class and to the rural Americans who have justly felt left behind by their government and political parties.
It’s not for me to say whether or not he will keep his promises to them, or whether they will once again be betrayed, but for the first time in many years, they have hope, I hear it all the time in my small town. Someone in power has remembered them’
Mr. Trump has ignited a new and perhaps the most significant iteration of the women’s revolution.
Something very important is happening among the women in America, they may very well be taking on their fair share of power in our political system, and more. If they do, our world will change, and much for the better, I believe.
Women will, I think, help to create a more humane, empathetic and peaceful world.
Speaking for myself, Mr. Trump has awakened some long dormant impulses and instincts, and my plan to do good rather than argue about good has proven more successful than I imagined. He is solely responsible for that turn, I wasn’t thinking that way before he was elected.
I don’t need Twitter to make my mark on the world, and I find that I am able to commit small acts of great kindness through my beloved blog, which has become the centerpiece of my creative life.
Life is curious and mysterious. It offers us gates rather than doors, and we can open them, walk through them, knocked them down or run. What seems an awful thing can turn out to be a good thing, realities change.
More than anything else, Donald Trump has given me the gift of dragons and of music. In some ways, he is a feared dragon. In other ways, he has brought me the magic of compassion and empathy, the highest moral calling of humanity.
I chose last year to turn away from anger an obsession and social media rage and resentment, even when it seemed the rest of the world was rushing the other way. It turns out I was not alone. Mr. Trump gave me that great gift, I turned away from resentment and rage, and I do not think I will ever turn back.
I have much to be grateful l for, a new path, a new mission. And I can’t lie, Mr. Trump is the father and guiding spirit behind almost all of it. I don’t know how he would feel about this, and I don’t think it matters.
Good will come of this suffering and hurt.