This little light of mine
The memes were flying fast and furiously the morning after the election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the United States. Rappers put the result into perspective by framing the day after the election as the nightmarish mirror image of that other American tragedy of 9/11.
For progressives and other right-thinking (I don’t mean that politically) citizens in America and beyond, this was truly a depressing day. I found myself wallowing in the muck, restraining myself when a Facebook friend reminded followers that “no matter what, the sun will rise tomorrow,” which was something that President Barrack Obama echoed the morning after.
I wanted to chirp back: “Or maybe that will be a mushroom cloud.”
In times like these, I nestle into my little cocoon of hope and optimism. I remember the message that someone etched into the top of a park bench in downtown Windsor’s Dieppe Park, quoting the character Dumbledore from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
(One hopes Rowling remembers those words she wrote while she bemoans the reality of a Trump presidency. She once compared him unfavourably to Voldemort.)
When I’m feeling defeated, I also like to swim in the music that’s inside my head and feel my soul lifting up.
I think of the powerful finale in Les Miserables: “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
I find solace in spirituals, especially Negro hymns like “Amazing Grace” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
I go back to my youth, to my favourite band since boyhood, Rush, and their song “Nobody’s Hero”:
They try to carry on, try to bear the agony
Try to hold some faith in the goodness of humanity.
Mankind is bigger than Trump. Women, whether Hillary Clinton was your choice or not, are better than Trump.
Tomorrow, we can still look up to the sky and see the light. And it doesn’t have to be in the shape of a mushroom cloud.
Part of “Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs” series. Click here to see more.
Claudio D’Andrea has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazine and online publications for 30 years. You can read his stuff on LinkedIn and Medium.com and follow him on Twitter.
