Gwen Berry

These are incredibly tense times. On top of COVID-19 and its serious ramifications, we’ve also been trying to cope with what many people see as the most important election in our country’s history. I don’t have to tell you how deeply and passionately the country is divided.

Thankfully, the long, divisive nightmare of the election season is almost over. It’s time to start thinking about what life will be like in the aftermath. We’ve been so focused on the win-or-lose moment of the Big Election that it has tended to crowd out our vision of life continuing beyond it. 

Here’s a post-election vision for you: Normal, constructive interactions among neighbors. A return of trust, mutual respect, personal friendship and local community. Now, I’m not so Pollyanna as to think that everything can be sunshine and roses, but it would definitely make all our lives better if we turned the volume way down on our differences and reclaimed our connections with each other as we go forward. 

It’s been hard to avoid getting caught up in the roiling, nationwide political drama, but we should remember that here is where we actually live our lives, in this community, among these people. Here is where our attitudes and actions have the most effect on the quality of our lives and the lives of those around us; and if we put our attention to it, we will see that we actually have much in common. In case anyone has trouble seeing the connection we all have, I’ve come up with a few observations to start it off:

> As neighbors, and members of a community, we all have shared and overlapping needs and concerns. > Since we live where we do, we all know about the elevated risks and complications of living at a distance from services in town. > We must all cope as well as we can with the snow and cold in winter and the potential for fires in summer. > We all face health issues at one time or another. > We all have some kind of financial concerns. > At times we need help; at times we reach out to help others. > We love our families and have great concern for their welfare. > We appreciate friendship. > We all have interests we enjoy pursuing. > We would all like to feel safe, and confident of the future. > We all want to live as well as we can. 

There’s so much value in being on friendly terms with each other and in being part of an active, caring community. Then, even when differences do arise, they tend to resolve more easily. The knowledge that neighbors need each other has long been a part of rural living. Neighbors would pitch in to help each other when there was need; and they’d work together for the good of their community. Everyone would benefit.

So when this great election-circus finishes its run and leaves town, I suggest we send distrust and animosity packing, too. Let’s leave off identifying each other only by political leanings. Let’s focus on the things we have in common, move past apprehension and anger, and start rebuilding our connections with each other and in our community. 

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