No catchy title

It wasn't quite this bad in my case, but I really did need some time to regroup and stop to smell a few roses amid the bitter stench of disappointment. And if, in your opinion, I took too long to "get over it" then that is too bad. I didn't spend the last week moaning or whining about it here. I run my life and my convictions on my timetable, not yours, and I'm entitled to as much time as I needed to reflect and gather my thoughts and my energies.

There are still some blogs I normally visit daily that I haven't been up to reading since last Tuesday, but I'm planning to ease into that this week. Hopefully, any lingering gloating or residual blue-state-bashing, if it was ever there, will have disappeared into the archives by that point because I really don't need that right now and I won't read it. I need more positive and less negative. Life is too short to get worked up over people whose point of view is so entirely different than mine.

On the flip side, some blogs have been really helpful to regaining my footing, notably Snarkcake for posts like this and this, and Inner Bitch for posts such as this that lead me to a site like this. So I thank you three for that.

I have been told by someone whose opinion I respect that I need to listen more to what those on the other side of the POV wall have to say now, instead of tuning them out in order to hear less. There is truth to that and I understand the reasoning -- "know thy enemy" and all -- but that is one hell of a difficult task as far as I'm concerned, and there are a few stumbling blocks down that path for me. Flat out: I do not suffer fools (and, by extension, stupidity) gladly...or well. It's a major character flaw, I'm sure, but that's the way it is. And listening to people spew one-sided rhetoric that is based on political, cultural, or religious dogma that I cannot relate to and cannot agree with is anathema to me.

As I stated a while back, I don't believe that there is real political debate any longer in this country, and I can't abide what passes for it on TV "news" these days. It's not that I am unwilling to consider other ideas, truly. I am willing, and I strive to be as open-minded to discussion as I can because persuing knowledge and understanding is admirable and worthwhile. It's that I find it nearly impossible to listen to the way the positions of the Right are presented and by those who present them at this point in time via the mainstream media. What I see there is not discussion or sharing or educating, it's more often sanctimonious ranting, character assasination, and intolerant diatribe.

The best I can do at this point is to read more about differing political views and positions -- because finding myself separated ideologically from half the country by such a wide gulf is very troubling -- and set aside my disappointment in favor of moving forward in whatever direction the country is headed. We may be doomed to repeat history if we do not learn from it, but learning from it means stepping away from it and not clinging to resentment over the parts that let you down.

So I will open myself up to learning more about the 51% of the country that sees our world so differently, where you're coming from and what you're hoping for as a result of this election. I don't see any other way for my 49% to work toward overcoming this enormous divide. But don't ask me to watch speeches, press conferences or other news programs that feature members of the current and/or forthcoming administration, or their sycophants, because I won't. I can't. Not yet.