A beautiful mirror to what so many of us have been feeling and reeling against since November last year. We could all see it coming. And we all knew there’s little we could have done against it, especially as all checks and balances disappeared.
I am even more concerned about the next few years. I personally realize that trump is but one cog in a much bigger wheel, and the wheel appears unstoppable now. And his disappearance will change little in the direction this wheel will take us. God help us all!
Thanks for your kind words, it helps with some perspective so we can somehow muster the energy to put up with this nightmare. I for one am exhausted and it shows…I can only hope that 2026 may improve but damage has been done and yet there is no light, no tunnel, no end in sight…yet
Lots of damage done, some of it irreparable, but giving in isn’t an option. Taking breaks feels healthy on and off a battlefield. We need to remember why we fight. ❤️
Thank you for the reality check as we say adios to 2025. I desperately want to have hope for 2026. I have an arsenal this minute and I want to make it last for the entire year and acknowledge that what I have may not be enough. It also might be enough! Let's all keep moving forward to the best of our collective abilities.
Hope is a New Year thing, but this year it feels mandatory. It would be terrible to think 2026 would just be more of the same. The signs all point to Trump's eventual downfall, but it can't happen without some strong resistance and an effort to make the law work to our advantage.
Moving forward is the best advice. Happy New Year! ❤️
Well-crafted, Mona, and a healthy resolution to a year of chaos and heartache. Rage is important not sustainable long-term. Kindness is. Authenticity is. Wonder is. Happy New Year!
Well-crafted, Mona, and a healthy resolution to a year of chaos and heartache. Rage is important but not sustainable long-term. Kindness is. Authenticity is. Wonder is. Happy New Year!
Oof. I tried to fix a typo in the above comment only to find Substack reposting it as a new comment. Weird. "More of the same" feels like a theme we're familiar with by now, though, so... Booyah! Lookout, 2026! Here we come!!
I agree with everything you said so well. Trump is and was always a grifter, a corrupt liar, and every bone in his body is unethical. The horrific circus that unfolded -- has it been almost a year yet? and why does it feel like 20 years? -- was tragic.
But whom do I blame more than Trump? The Republican "leadership," who bends to his every will. Let's face it, though. Trump doesn't have the intelligence or brain capacity to do anything. I think Stephen Miller has made a lot of decisions. Mike Johnson is a loser, and I'm confident that history will eventually show that the Republican party tried to bring down democracy. They will go down in history like they are: traitors and cowards.
This year was difficult for me, as was the case for so many others who love this country. I spent many days drawing and painting in order to find some serenity and solace among the chaos.
You're right, Trump is not the only culprit, but he is the catalyst, the cult leader. MAGA will still be MAGA when he's gone but they'll need a fire-starter and Vance won't even flicker.
Ramona, my favorite new year's wishes are not something I thought of, although I wish I had. it is from Maria Shriver, who wrote several years ago on Twitter; "May this be your, 'Hell, yes!' year!" Here's to a Hell Yes year for all of us!
Hell, yes! Love it. It reminds me of Shonda Rhimes’ book, ‘The Year of Saying Yes’, where she recounts a year when she said ‘yes’ to things that scared her. That book spoke to me!
You make a great deal of difference, good difference, by using your voice to recount in a truthful way what is going on in our country. I’m grateful to read your posts. Thank you. I hope you have a healthy new year.
I want to hold on to honor my rage, and it is there - so much of what is happening violates my deepest values about integrity, honesty, and compassion. However, your point is well taken - there is also good, fun, and kindness in the world, and I need to honor that as well, even focusing on it more than last year.
Hi, I'm a first time reader. I really like your perspective and I share it. I've been carrying hate for Trump, his cabinet, the billionaire class, the both sides do it media, the weak Dem party and the supreme court since Trump started his wrecking ball political career. My hate goes back futher starting in 2000 when Bush and the Republicans literally stole that election. It's to say I've had a slow boiling cauldron of hate for a long time but 2025 brought it to new levels. By the time the 2024 election came I could see (as I'm sure most of us who follow this stuff could) that the levels of misinformation, the conspiracy nonsense, the anti science rhetoric and irrational discourse was so inflated that in a way, if Harris had won, while it certainly would have been better for the country, the toxic irrational discourse would have remained. It might have led to an even worse Republican candidate later. It's to say that there needed to be a way to break the fever and as much as I loath trump and hope there's a special place in hell for a malignant narcissist like him, it seems to me that only he can destroy what he created. He needed to show how he's truly a loser and a failure on his own terms and I think that's happening now. There's a lot more maga and maga adjacent conservative morons that are suffering and are realizing he's not delivering what he promised. Or rather he's delivering what they were too stupid to realize was exactly what he promised. I think at this point trump's decline is happening, not quickly enough, and it will help restore some amount of reflection and rationality. What I'm sad about now is more a grieving for the country I grew up in and despite the problems we all knew were a part of it, was a time of stability and a semblance of vision and direction. I'm getting over it and whatever the new America will look like in the wake of this pulled out rug democracy I'm sure it will be nothing like what I knew. The younger generations will have to wade through it and I'm sorry for them in a way but they'll manage the best they can like we all did. I have to have a bigger view of it all so I don't fall into a pit of despair and rage 24/7.
A beautiful mirror to what so many of us have been feeling and reeling against since November last year. We could all see it coming. And we all knew there’s little we could have done against it, especially as all checks and balances disappeared.
I am even more concerned about the next few years. I personally realize that trump is but one cog in a much bigger wheel, and the wheel appears unstoppable now. And his disappearance will change little in the direction this wheel will take us. God help us all!
Thanks for your kind words, it helps with some perspective so we can somehow muster the energy to put up with this nightmare. I for one am exhausted and it shows…I can only hope that 2026 may improve but damage has been done and yet there is no light, no tunnel, no end in sight…yet
Lots of damage done, some of it irreparable, but giving in isn’t an option. Taking breaks feels healthy on and off a battlefield. We need to remember why we fight. ❤️
I’m going to stop thinking everything here has to be meaningful. I’m going to just go with it.
Sums it up for me too
❤️
Well said, every single word.
Thank you for the reality check as we say adios to 2025. I desperately want to have hope for 2026. I have an arsenal this minute and I want to make it last for the entire year and acknowledge that what I have may not be enough. It also might be enough! Let's all keep moving forward to the best of our collective abilities.
Hope is a New Year thing, but this year it feels mandatory. It would be terrible to think 2026 would just be more of the same. The signs all point to Trump's eventual downfall, but it can't happen without some strong resistance and an effort to make the law work to our advantage.
Moving forward is the best advice. Happy New Year! ❤️
Well-crafted, Mona, and a healthy resolution to a year of chaos and heartache. Rage is important not sustainable long-term. Kindness is. Authenticity is. Wonder is. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Elizabeth. Kindness and authenticity sound like fine words to live by! 💕
Well-crafted, Mona, and a healthy resolution to a year of chaos and heartache. Rage is important but not sustainable long-term. Kindness is. Authenticity is. Wonder is. Happy New Year!
Oof. I tried to fix a typo in the above comment only to find Substack reposting it as a new comment. Weird. "More of the same" feels like a theme we're familiar with by now, though, so... Booyah! Lookout, 2026! Here we come!!
LOL. I could remove it but that would feel hostile! We'll just let it go. Maybe it deserves a second read!
Hi Ramona,
I agree with everything you said so well. Trump is and was always a grifter, a corrupt liar, and every bone in his body is unethical. The horrific circus that unfolded -- has it been almost a year yet? and why does it feel like 20 years? -- was tragic.
But whom do I blame more than Trump? The Republican "leadership," who bends to his every will. Let's face it, though. Trump doesn't have the intelligence or brain capacity to do anything. I think Stephen Miller has made a lot of decisions. Mike Johnson is a loser, and I'm confident that history will eventually show that the Republican party tried to bring down democracy. They will go down in history like they are: traitors and cowards.
This year was difficult for me, as was the case for so many others who love this country. I spent many days drawing and painting in order to find some serenity and solace among the chaos.
You're right, Trump is not the only culprit, but he is the catalyst, the cult leader. MAGA will still be MAGA when he's gone but they'll need a fire-starter and Vance won't even flicker.
Happy New Year Ramona✨
Here’s to the year that changes everything…the year we get to breathe.
Lets go together✨
Much love + light✨
I’m right there with you. ❤️
Ramona, my favorite new year's wishes are not something I thought of, although I wish I had. it is from Maria Shriver, who wrote several years ago on Twitter; "May this be your, 'Hell, yes!' year!" Here's to a Hell Yes year for all of us!
Hell, yes! Love it. It reminds me of Shonda Rhimes’ book, ‘The Year of Saying Yes’, where she recounts a year when she said ‘yes’ to things that scared her. That book spoke to me!
I read Rhimes' book and passed it on to my daughter!
Wow! I wrote about it here; https://open.substack.com/pub/writereverlasting/p/how-shonda-rhimes-kicked-my-ass-and?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Looking forward to “going with it” with you in 2026!
Great! Thanks for your support. ❤️
You make a great deal of difference, good difference, by using your voice to recount in a truthful way what is going on in our country. I’m grateful to read your posts. Thank you. I hope you have a healthy new year.
Thank you, Sally. And thank you for being here. ❤️
I want to hold on to honor my rage, and it is there - so much of what is happening violates my deepest values about integrity, honesty, and compassion. However, your point is well taken - there is also good, fun, and kindness in the world, and I need to honor that as well, even focusing on it more than last year.
I think part of it is self-preservation. Rage can take its toll when it takes over. I want to feel I control it, and not the other way around. 🙄
Hi, I'm a first time reader. I really like your perspective and I share it. I've been carrying hate for Trump, his cabinet, the billionaire class, the both sides do it media, the weak Dem party and the supreme court since Trump started his wrecking ball political career. My hate goes back futher starting in 2000 when Bush and the Republicans literally stole that election. It's to say I've had a slow boiling cauldron of hate for a long time but 2025 brought it to new levels. By the time the 2024 election came I could see (as I'm sure most of us who follow this stuff could) that the levels of misinformation, the conspiracy nonsense, the anti science rhetoric and irrational discourse was so inflated that in a way, if Harris had won, while it certainly would have been better for the country, the toxic irrational discourse would have remained. It might have led to an even worse Republican candidate later. It's to say that there needed to be a way to break the fever and as much as I loath trump and hope there's a special place in hell for a malignant narcissist like him, it seems to me that only he can destroy what he created. He needed to show how he's truly a loser and a failure on his own terms and I think that's happening now. There's a lot more maga and maga adjacent conservative morons that are suffering and are realizing he's not delivering what he promised. Or rather he's delivering what they were too stupid to realize was exactly what he promised. I think at this point trump's decline is happening, not quickly enough, and it will help restore some amount of reflection and rationality. What I'm sad about now is more a grieving for the country I grew up in and despite the problems we all knew were a part of it, was a time of stability and a semblance of vision and direction. I'm getting over it and whatever the new America will look like in the wake of this pulled out rug democracy I'm sure it will be nothing like what I knew. The younger generations will have to wade through it and I'm sorry for them in a way but they'll manage the best they can like we all did. I have to have a bigger view of it all so I don't fall into a pit of despair and rage 24/7.
New to your writings - this piece was wonderful.
Thank you. And welcome!