As I watched Kamala Harris walk off the platform yesterday after giving her concession speech, my heart sank for a moment. “Don’t go,” I pleaded within. There she goes, not Kamala Harris, but the joy that was possible because of the hope she brought to many of us, the lift to my spirits. I was sad for what we had lost. As I contemplated that loss, I realized that we hadn’t really lost anything, but instead, we were called to be that hope, joy and love for each other.

I don’t want what I am saying to be misinterpreted as flowery words or spiritual by-passing, so I will be blunt. I am feeling my feelings. I find myself in despair. I am even angry that we might feel that it is not possible to have a woman as our leader ever. However, I can’t stay in these feelings. Instead, I have to be something more. As Kamala Harris walked off that stage, I realized that it was my turn, your turn. We cannot wait for someone to save us. We must save ourselves and we have all the tools to do so.

We have the tools of compassion, love, peace, beauty, joy and so much more within us. These are the truths of who we are. The world of effects is just this – ideas and thoughts that we’ve been thinking for a really long time. If we want a shift, we have to shift from the inside. We do not need a leader to do this. We only need to remember who we are. We are our own Divine Authority and we have the choice to wake up today with an intention for how we want to live our lives.

I will continue to dream up a life of service, creativity and light. I will continue to live as I dream. I will do what is the best thing to do in what seems like chaos. I will create a life of peace and joy within myself and live it. This goes beyond just dreaming. It moves into action. I trust I am guided to do what is mine to do. I trust in the eternality of my soul and yours. I trust that the shift to a higher order of being is here. I trust that we can love bigger than we’ve ever loved before. I trust you and me. I know, as Mother Theresa once said, “We belong to each other.” I will continue to live this and remember it, even when people do not agree with me.

We might feel like we’ve been defeated, but really, as battles go, we’ve won a great deal in the way of remembering what is possible for us as human beings on a little blue planet.

Love and Aloha,

Dr. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Consciousness Coach, and Spiritual Director, Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i