I think I took my first full breath in 4 years last night. Continuing to breathe huge sighs of relief today, not that Biden is our President, (actually couldn't finish listening to his quasi-genuine acceptance speech), but that we no longer have someone in the highest office who has such vile contempt for the feminine, for those who have been marginalized, for anyone who dares disagree with him, for our earth, and for Life itself.
Biden isn't anywhere on my list of ideal Presidents, but he's also not the poster child for malignant narcissism, finding joy in creating constant chaos and taking people down. For that I have tears of gratitude today. At least for now our nervous systems can rest knowing that we will no longer be subjected to the daily crazy and insanity of Trump's inner demons.
That said, it's not lost on me the important cultural role that Trump played in being a mirror for the rest of us. Being immersed in a deeply narcissistic/self-centered culture, we all find ourselves somewhere on the narcissism spectrum. I've been in a deep inquiry about my own narcissistic parts over the past few years, their roots, how they express themselves in the world, and how to bring more loving compassion to those parts that find safety in closing off, shutting down, judging, projecting, or lashing out.
Our collective psyche is in an intense healing initiation that will require every one of us to look honestly in the mirror. I pray today that we each find compassion for all the ways we cope with being "walking wounded." Our narcissistic coping strategies may give us the illusion of safety and protection, but they also deny us true intimacy with ourselves and each other, cutting us off from the deeper connections we are all craving. Cultural inclusion can't happen until we include all the parts of ourselves we've rejected.
So, thank you Donald Trump for holding up a mirror of our collective inner demons, which aren't actually demons at all, but our deeply wounded inner children. Now that we've seen you demonstrate what happens when we let our pain run the show, we can do things differently. As Maya Angelou said "When you know better, you do better." May we do better.