Scribble — (Late) October Edition

Hi friends,

It’s taken me a day to process exactly what I want to say about the election results. Here in Europe, the polls closed around midnight, so I went to bed feeling optimistic. I truly believed that good would prevail—that the American people would come together to vote for someone who would move the country (and to a lesser extent, the world) forward. While my perception of “good” is, of course, subjective, it’s hard to argue when the alternative is fuelled by hate and ignorance.

Throughout the night, I kept checking the results, watching as Trump’s lead grew, person by person, vote by vote. A pit formed in my stomach, growing larger as Harris’s chances slowly diminished.

We’re living through a period that people will later study, drawing broad conclusions and learnings. Yet, the world keeps spinning, and life goes on.

In my twenties, I often felt unsure of what I wanted to say. My beliefs were there but without a strong voice. Over the last couple of years, as I’ve moved closer to the arts, these beliefs have begun to mix with a desire to push, to influence, to change things. The Boy and the Star was my first real attempt at saying something publicly—a statement on the good in life during heavy times. More and more, I feel the importance of voices that act as moral compasses, speaking from love rather than hate, wanting to build bridges rather than burn them.

We must come together as a species, rather than wasting the little time we have. There is so much hate and anger everywhere. I feel it myself in day-to-day situations. It’s as though the worst of ourselves is being ignited and fanned by everything—from social media to the constant barrage of news and general negativity.

Yet, we live in the safest, most advanced, and objectively best time in human history. It just doesn’t always feel that way.

However, I feel energised. I feel empowered. And I feel that my voice, like so many others, needs to be heard. Together, we can repair, heal, and make things better. Giving up is easy, pushing on is hard. But that's what we're going to do.

Onwards and upwards,

Will