“The secret of life is to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for the rest of your life. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.” ~Henry Moore
As the dust settles post-election, I have heard comments evaluating the “goodness” or “badness” of various outcomes, summing up implications for policy and law, and passing judgment on how it will all shake out for 
ordinary Americans on the state and local levels. Underlying all of these comments is a sentiment of “will my team win?” or “will the good guys prevail?” And then one layer down, underneath this sentiment is the unspoken fear “Will I and my loved ones be safe? Will my interests be protected?”
ordinary Americans on the state and local levels. Underlying all of these comments is a sentiment of “will my team win?” or “will the good guys prevail?” And then one layer down, underneath this sentiment is the unspoken fear “Will I and my loved ones be safe? Will my interests be protected?”What I want to share in this article is that I believe that the United States is being called to do the deeper work of growing beyond tribalism. I think the whole world is being called to do this work, quite frankly, but speaking as a U.S. citizen, I specifically see how my country has always espoused pretty lofty political and social ideals, and yet we are not living up to those ideals.
I chose the fabulous Henry Moore quote above to accompany this post because this is how I feel about the work we have to do in our democracy. It’s not about winning the battle. And what if it’s not even about winning the war? What if we are all on some level seeking an entirely new paradigm and framework that doesn’t necessitate vanquishing an enemy? I am not saying that there aren’t real dangers and threats in the world that we must contend with. I am also not saying that there aren’t players in our system who are deeply committed to the current ‘Us-verus-Them’ paradigm and who will fight tooth and nail to destroy the one’s they perceive as “the enemy”. What I am offering is that the old paradigm is blinding all of us. And I believe that we have a resilient enough political system that we have a window of opportunity to find a new path forward. What I am suggesting is that the stakes are too high for us to keep playing out the same old ‘Tit for Tat’ storyline.
And the work of democracy never truly ends. If we step up and undertake the work of being stewards of democracy side by side, regardless of our political affiliation, the work never ends, and it is in many ways an impossible task. And yet: I believe that the devotion to ideals–that protect the vulnerable, safe-guard individual freedoms, create space for dissonance and disagreement and celebrate a diversity of opinions–has the potential to bring something forward in each of us and among us that is redeeming and healing.
We have the opportunity to do more of this work in our country, and I would argue that the first step is taking steps to grow and evolve beyond our limiting, fearful, tribal, red-or-blue egos. Are we up to the task? I certainly hope so!
Here’s to the next chapter of our audacious political and social experiment.
Lucy Claire
AN INVITATION!
If you are in San Francisco, I’d love for you to join me on November 20, 2018 for a celebration of my new book “Adulting 2.0: Walking our Talk in a Changing World”. CLICK HERE to learn more!
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