Moving beyond this week’s tragic election

These two videos offer messages of hope for everyone still in pain after the tragic US election this week. Because while pain is unavoidable, fear and anxiety are reasonable, and uncertainty is probable, at some point we all need to find a way forward.

In the video above, Vlog Brothers’ John Green talks about the outcome of the 2016 election and the impending presidency, along with what he calls “the astonishing and beautiful persistence of hope among humans”.

In the video below Hannah Hart, who is filling in for Vlog Brothers’ Hank Green while he’s on paternity leave, points out the problem with wishful thinking, and how next time we must all do better. She suggests one simple thing everyone can do right now.

Taken together, these videos start to point at a way forward: John talks about why there’s reason for hope for the long term, and Hannah talks about how to start right now to start making things better. Both acknowledge the hurt, and fear, and disbelief, but both also make clear why it’s necessary to move forward, and to work to make things better.

These are the sorts of messages I think we all need to hear.