We did it. We won.
Added 2020-11-07 18:04:47 +0000 UTCI felt nothing.
Just, a total absence of feeling.
It wasn't until my friend sent me the video of New York's skyline filled with a cacophony of people cheering and horns honking that I began sobbing.
The last four years I've spent actively willing myself to remain numb each time I read a headline (I am not very good at it), so reading the words that he's officially lost... I'm still holding my breath. I'm still waiting for the shoe to drop. Waiting for the slap to land. Stay numb. Stay numb.
It was the sound of people, real people, filling up their lungs and all the space around them with celebration that cut through my nothingness. At first it was just the hair on my arms that stood on end, then every inch of my body was covered in goosebumps and then I was doubled over with my face buried in the crook of my arm while I sobbed out my relief, sobbed out four years of holding my breath.
There is still work to do. There will always be more work to do. But one way you make that long-haul sustainable is by celebrating the wins when they come.
We did it. We won.
-Rebecca Nagle
We did it.
We won.
Celebrate to purge the last four years from your body and soul.
Then we get to work.
Comments
I feel so much the same as what you described. I felt numb until I saw videos of celebrations on IG. Especially of queer people dancing in rainbow flags. It broke me. And it made me think about how powerful crowds can be for us...not to say they're always powerful in good ways, but I do think that there's some special magic in experiencing together. Also also, a total YES to the work that still needs to be done. And that goes for my country (Canada) as well!
Liz Radermacher
2020-11-09 18:53:28 +0000 UTCCongratulations to all of America. It was a really tense race, but still Biden won. Congratulations again! Your sobbing means a lot.
VitAnyaNaked
2020-11-08 17:28:24 +0000 UTCReading your post made this all the more real for me. I’m in the process of moving so I’m sitting in my mostly empty apartment and tears of relief are falling from my eyes. Thank you for this moment of reminder of how much we gained. There’s more work to do but it feels so much lighter right now.
Connie Obleman
2020-11-08 03:12:27 +0000 UTCI felt the same.
John Ashcraft
2020-11-07 23:53:39 +0000 UTCAs Matt Frei, reporter for the UK's Channel 4 News, put it after watching the celebrations: ‘This feels more like the end of a regime than the end of a democratically elected government.’
Daniel Forinton
2020-11-07 23:51:43 +0000 UTCCongratulations from across the pond! I can only imagine how relieved so many people are today, given how relieved I am, when the turd's actions don't directly affect me (though there is a *lot* of indirect stuff that will be nice to not worry nearly as much about for a few years).
Peter Jensen
2020-11-07 22:07:00 +0000 UTCCongratulations from the Canadian capital region… and good luck. Much of the world owes a debt of gratitude to the 75ish million Americans (disproportionately from equity-seeking groups) distributed in the right way across all the states that made Trump a one-term president.
Eric Hortop
2020-11-07 19:20:46 +0000 UTCThe numbers on both sides of this are overwhelming, one in four people in the country - not voters, people - did something about the national traumatization. And nearly as many pushed to double down on it.. Breath in the relief, cry out the years of tension, take the time for some self care. And save the date for the next ballot you need to cast to keep yourself and your neighbors safe from this trauma again.
Barmp
2020-11-07 19:08:39 +0000 UTCI feel the same. I used to always keep up on political matters, but the last 4 years have just been endless waves of atrocity, incompetence and horror. Looking forward to January!
Jon B.
2020-11-07 18:54:00 +0000 UTCCongrats! And special congrats for Kamala Harris! Woop! 🥂🍻
Allison Matthas
2020-11-07 18:50:54 +0000 UTC❤❤❤
Alexis
2020-11-07 18:48:39 +0000 UTCOne. Step. At. A. Time. We will make it.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
2020-11-07 18:45:14 +0000 UTCCongratulations from the UK. :)
Amyphist
2020-11-07 18:14:46 +0000 UTC🙌👏🙌👏🙌👏🙌👏✨💖😭💖✨
Hartly
2020-11-07 18:08:07 +0000 UTCCelebrating from ATL. Ready to work through the runoff. Soul cleansing win!
Chris Driggers
2020-11-07 18:06:44 +0000 UTC
