You're allowed to hope
The one word a lot of people have been using since Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee is hope.
It’s a feeling that exists in the present and relies on the future. It’s mostly energy (vibes, if you will), and in this case, it’s the collective resuscitation of millions of people who were averting their gaze from this election cycle.
For those of us who came of voting age during the Obama years, hope is a charged word and not one we usually associate with politics. Politics is gridlock, scandal, and often disappointment. It certainly had those bitter tastes as we were wading through the muck of Trump and Biden for a second time.
And while Kamala Harris may not be who I would have given my fragile heart to if this had been an open primary, she’s riding the same wave we all are. She still has a lot of explaining to do and not a lot of time to do it, but she has our hopeful attention, and we have hers.
And whether or not you’re particularly drawn to her, if elected, at 20 years younger than her predecessor and her opponent, we’ll have someone who will be legislating for and actually living in the future of their making, and I put more hope in that idea than in any one person.
Because we must find ways to cultivate a vision for the future that doesn’t live and die with individuals, that takes its energy from the movements of the masses, and continues to push back against our lesser human impulses in search of a greater good.
So you’re allowed to hope, and indulge in the winds of change while they blow your way, but are you hoping for four years or a future?