Grace

I realized today that I'm working through my intense emotions about our presidential election results right here, in this beloved community of thoughtful, intelligent, kind people on several continents. Writing and photography are what I did for 30 years, and I continue to turn to them daily, as they allow me time to think about what I want to express, and I'll continue to do so as I work through this enormous change in our government.

Today I watched Hillary Clinton's gracious concession speech live, my heart warmed by her intelligence, stamina, and grace, and my eyes filled with tears, making it difficult to take photos of my computer screen.

I downloaded a transcript of her speech to keep, and want to share a few excerpts from it here. Her words resonate deeply with me, although I will be wrestling with the first quotation for quite a while.

• Donald Trump is going to be our next president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.

• We've spent a year and a half bringing together millions of people from every corner of our country to say with one voice that we believe that the American dream is big enough for everyone -- for people of all races and religions, for men and women, for immigrants, for LGBT people, and people with disabilities. For everyone.

• ...to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.

• And I still believe as deeply as I ever have that if we stand together and work together with respect for our differences, strength in our convictions, and love for this nation, our best days are still ahead of us.

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