Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to live an ordinary, private life, a life like the one I was living in my family’s house in Stockton, California. I had no desire to be a movie star or be famous. I liked my small world, not just my neighborhood, my friends and cousins and aunts and uncles, but also school and my teachers, whom I deeply admired. My small world was peaceful and calm even though my early childhood took place during World War Two, and my later childhood and adolescence was set against under the shadow of the atomic bomb and the Korean War. I did feel that shadow, but it was only a vague threat. I still felt safe to dream my dreams of ordinary life—marriage, children, a home of my own. I felt safe because I lived in the United States. I trusted the leaders of this country. They felt like moral people who would do what was right. I knew about dictators and corruption. I knew that there were cruel, power-hungry men who caused terrible suffering, but I thought that could never happen here. This was the United States, a country that was committed to justice and the common good.

That faith, that trust has been shattered. What is now happening in this country is something I would never have believed could happen here. This country has elected a rogue president who respects only the rich and powerful, a president out for revenge against anyone who does not show him absolute fealty. I do not need to detail every outrageous action he is taking and the chaos he is causing not just in this country and the world at large. News reports and social media are filled with those outrageous words and actions. They will keep happening. They will keep happening because this rogue president wants to keep everyone’s attention on himself, and he does it by being outrageous.

There is a horrified fascination in watching this man. I want and need to know what he is doing. But I refuse to let him completely take over my mental life. I refuse to give him that power. What that means is that I will support those who are actively fighting him, but I will deliberately compartmentalize—set a specific time for reading and watching news reports, and use the rest of my time and thought for other things, things I love. I will continue to live my ordinary life for as long as possible.

World events often do overwhelm and destroy ordinary life. It has happened over and over again throughout human history. It is happening in large parts of the world right now, and it is happening to many here in this country right now. No place is immune. No country is an exception.

To survive with our spirits intact it is crucial to hang on to all that we can of that which is good in life—beauty, love, kindness. We must take time to look for, appreciate, celebrate all that is good. We must work to preserve it, and we must take time to remember all the goodness we have known. We must actively look for that which gives us hope.