How are we all doing? I'm as jittery as a...jitterbug? Mainly due to my news geek self staying awake for the majority of Tuesday evening to watch the votes rolls in and never recuperating from the shock. It has taken hours to muster up the courage - courage you ask - to write this post. Motherhood has changed the way I view the world. It has made me listen more intently to topics I would otherwise pass by. It has brought a yearning to make a difference where and when possible. It has taught me to drink my coffee stronger and - until this point - saw me heading to bed at 6pm, but most of all it has brought unwavering HOPE.
Since the wee hours of Wednesday morning I have had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I'm not American, but America has long been a country I have admired, visited, lived in and hoped to retire to in a bid to become a shuffle board extraordinaire. That's an aspiring post in itself. I loved Bill Clinton - not in that way because c'mon he was old when I was young - but I respected his journey to the White House. I was 6 years old when he took office and 14 when his two terms ended. By that age I had a firm understanding of politics - I was by no means a Cherie Blair of yesteryear - but held an interest in the workings of international politics: 0ne that followed me to university. He came from Little Rock, Arkansas and was raised with no wealth or family name to call upon yet achieved the highest office in the land. Respect. Hillary stood beside her leading man for over 20 years but Tuesday was her time to shine. Her devotion to public service should have far surpassed the glamorisation of a reality television star's bid for the Presidency. Rights, intelligence, experience and policy most certainly trumps the fearful fight he fought.
Many Brits are shrugging off the fact that Trump winning the election will not remotely affect them: blissful naivety must be a wonderful thing. As I'm not a Wall Street junkee I have no numerical figures to throw out there about how this will negatively impact the UK, but I would suggest Brexit has a lot to answer for regarding this falling domino effect. When one economy is on the brink, another quivers. Since yesterday I have plunged myself into a world of twitter feeds, newspaper headlines, live reporting and ranting blog post - similar to this one - and my findings have shown that regardless of their nauseous feelings towards Donald Trump leading their country many rambunctious American's have dug deep to come together, push forward and shield their children with a gracious heart. Respect once more.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's concession speech was everything that diplomacy should be - I should stop typing, turn off my computer and sulk somewhere else because if she can pull herself together, slap on mascara and tell America, and the world, to keep an open mind then I have no place to be playing a violin. Yes the little girls of today will have to wait 4 more years - c'mon Michelle Obama step up to the plate - to see a female shatter the glass ceiling but until then I'm still rooting for her, for what she brought to the world table and for the confidence she instilled in me to champion for a better future for my child.
In a bid to leave you with a less jittery tone than I started out with, I hope you're all reveling in the season that brings red Starbucks cups, hats, scarves and Hillary Clinton pins.