If you feel like you’re in mourning, you are not alone. This morning, after waking up to the news (or still being awake to hear it, honestly) that Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election, it became clear that what so many of us are feeling right now is grief. Grief for the progress and freedoms we had hoped to achieve in the next four years, for the hope we felt that our country would make the just, rational choice, for the plans we might have to put on hold and, horribly, for the lives that will surely be lost during Trump’s second term.
So, we’re here for a shiva call, to be with you and comfort you.
Earlier today, on our Instagram story, we asked all of you two simple questions. How are you feeling? and What do you need right now? Now, we’re going to share some of your anonymous answers. We hope that you’ll see you are not alone in your grief. We’re with you. And together, we can make it through this.
How are you feeling right now?
Absolutely wrecked and infuriated
Anxious, scared, sad, numb, hopeless, all at once. But also oddly… connected.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
No words
Existential dread
I just don’t understand the world
Numb
Like I’m gonna throw up tbh
Scared for my daughter
Devastated and terrified for my trans kid
Empty. Numb. Grieving.
Fucking awful help
Quite terrible & could use a hug
Destroyed
Shook
Numb and scared at the same time
Sickened
Shitty
Numb. Empty. Devastated. Shocked but also not.
Like I’m dying.
Defeated. Exhausted. Sickened. Overwhelmed. SCARED.
I cried myself to sleep at 3am.
Frustrated this country keeps choosing incompetent men over qualified women
I’m worried about the world
It’s hard to do my job today (I’m a social studies teacher)
Various degrees of miserable
I’m in a blue state and not of voting age so I feel powerless.
Simultaneously furious and resigned
Scared for what this means for the Jewish people
Dissociating atm
Terrified. My husband and I were wanting to start a family, but now I really don’t want to.
Trying to remember there were beautiful times during 2016-2020, even in the midst of darkness.
Grateful there isn’t unrest rn, but scared about the future / democracy
Wondering who I can trust as a first time Jewish voter
Invisible
Trapped. Like I live in a country I’m expected to love but doesn’t love me.
Disgusted. Confused on how this happened.
Scared as fuck for my rights as a queer trans person.
Was holding it together until I saw my daughter’s face this morning.
What do you need right now?
A time machine
A mom hug
Challah
I ate 4 pieces of babka
Hope core
Wine
My child’s Halloween candy
Space
Strength and the will to keep going tbh
Nature
To cry into a bowl of matzo ball soup
Carbs, cheese and a good cry
To leave the country
A way to process all of this
Comfort and perspective to keep going
A miracle <3
Drugs and alcohol
Reassurance and faith
Matzo ball soup and a lobotomy
For the hostages to be freed
Carbs
Many hugs
Hope
For this to be a dream
To scream. Some more squishmellows. A conduit for my rage. A more nuanced left.
All the self-care. Every single bit of it.
A second passport
Something funny
Women’s rights
A big fat fucking distraction
A cry
A woman president
Getting away from the TV and the news and getting outside to touch grass with my newborn daughter.
A hug, human rights and some Jewish comfort food
Something or someone new, unexpected, which or who will bring global stability and peace
Things to give me hope
To get off campus
Funny stuff
Silver linings and/or action steps
A mental health day to just be home with my family
Something warm and comforting, ideally a soup or noodle dish
Cute dog pictures
Xanax
A better education system
A miracle, a hug and a xanax
A bagel
Chocolate
Scream into the void
Community
Chocolate rugelach and a hug
Rewind and a new election
