A Brief Story From Last Night's Election

Dear Friends,At the reception for Eric Schneiderman after the polls closed last night, his staff was very nervous, given the uncertain nature of the race and late polls showing a dead heat in the race for New York Attorney General.When Eric arrived, he made the rounds and greeted supporters and friends. When he got to me, I gave him a hug and asked him how he was doing. He exhaled deeply and said (paraphrasing as best I can):"This morning I just let myself stare into the abyss. [one last minute snap poll showed him losing slightly].  I let myself  go there. Then I took a few breaths and realized either way everything's ok. I'll wake up tomorrow, with the same breath, and the same number of breaths before I die. Then I let it go."Um, how often do you hear an elected official say something like that?A few hours later, we were celebrating a much larger than anticipated victory. Eric ran a remarkable underdog campaign as a true progressive, a true interdependista.This morning I am grateful that so many friends made it part of their personal practice to engage with the world we live in.I am also grateful that despite fear and hate and greed becoming so prominent in our government, we have (at least) three officials in HIGH elected office whose views resonate deeply with the practice of mindfulness (Eric, Attorney General of New York aka The New Sheriff of Wall Street!, Jerry Brown as Governor of California, and Tim Ryan as a Congressman from Ohio).Do you have any stories from voting you want to share?All best wishes,Ethan