Dear Democrats,

You did this to yourselves.

Let me preface the comments I am about to make by saying I am not a Republican by any means. Nor do I lay claim to the complete ideology one would associate with a Democratic constituent. I stand in the middle of the aisle, leaning slightly to the left side.

Many of us did not see this coming, and many more thought it wasn’t conceivable. But as history has now told us…it is and it was.

These comments are the final ones I will make before closing the book for good on this brutal and divisive election cycle. I feel exhausted. Not only because I, like so many of you, remained awake throughout the long night until the results were finally announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning. I am exhausted because this entire cycle has been brutally fought and has revealed we are more fractured and divided as a people than we might be comfortable admitting. Everything about these past two years has been nasty and uncomfortable. When people are uncomfortable for lengthy periods of time, we grow uncharacteristically nasty in our temperance and demeanor. This was clearly on display throughout a tumultuous primary and campaign season.

We have witnessed a once in a generation event. These results and the control of power in the government has not been seen in our nation in almost 100 years. We have witnessed the turning of one of the hallowed pages of history. We have been chosen to usher in a new and uncertain global age.

But you know what’s crazy? I actually have hope, even though the mainstream thought process might suggest there is none to be had.

This election cycle was a nightmare…and it’s finally over. We can breathe with some semblance of certainty that has been robbed of us for nearly 18 months. Here’s a further comforting thought. I know that these reactions and feelings are not in the minority. Everyone is weary, everyone is concerned, everyone is ready and begging for a radical change in the institutions of this country and the rewriting of the rules of the game the representatives we elect seem to play with reckless disregard for the constituents they represent.

No one trusts the system or the government anymore. Whether or not that is due to the feeling of significant flaws in the founding principles upon which the supporting architectural framework has been built around or the seething corruption that possesses the electorate without mercy or immunity is something that I have not worked out yet. It might not even been ludicrous to suggest that the reality is actually some combination of the two.

So what did the American people chose to do? They went out and installed someone into the highest office of the land who has never held public office. Never played the game, not officially anyways. We went and elected someone who applied for the job with a blank resume. When Washington looked at that piece of paper and laughed we said a collective f*** you to the establishment by putting him in charge of the whole lot.

Shame on the Democrats. This was a change election and it was not clear to see. Although I say that as a member of the people not someone who's vision is obstructed by the veil of greed and lust for power within the establishment. Shame on the Democrats for choosing the wrong candidate to represent them in a election season such as this one. Shame because they manipulated and influenced the system putting their desires above the people, taking the power away from them and writing their own selfish narrative. This embarrassment is further compounded by the fact that the opposing candidate is the perfect choice in a 'change' election cycle, a bellowing idealist leading a grassroots movement.

But enough about the past, it's way back there, and we are way up here, in reality.

When you remove all the excess noise and nuances, what we saw on Election Day this past Tuesday was Americans making a simple choice...pick the person with the thick resume and a fairly predictable tenure but zero trustworthiness? Or pick the side which will certainly bring about change but not having any way of guessing what kind of change or how radical of a change might be brought about?

With the future, and some might say the fate, of the entire country resting on the decision...it's practically the definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The people were so fed up with the age-old establishment that we were willing to elect a total wild card that would certainly bring change rather than the 'safest' option because, although it is a spotty history of character, it is at the very least a detailed history in the chosen career path.

Don't get me wrong, I have never been a supporter of Trump. I cannot and could not bring myself to betray my morals and support someone who created, narrated and inspired the bitter, divisive, and painful rhetoric that was commonplace during his campaign. Nor am I a supporter of Clinton, and neither of them earned my vote based on their deplorable characters and/or lack of dignity for the people or each other.

I was resigned to the group of people standing in the middle of the room. Watching in frustration and disgust as the mud flew across the aisle thick and fast. Hungry for a shake-up, a change in the way we having been doing things because it's only working for a tiny group of people while leaving the rest of the people out in the cold but nevertheless horrified at the choices we were presented with.

What Tuesday showed us is that we are at a turning point. That huge bloc of people standing in the middle of the room typically tends to fall on the left side once it comes down to decision day, and that's exactly what every pollster and media outlet unabashedly predicted up until several hours after the polls closed in many states.

Then the votes started to get counted and the crashing din of voices began to slowly grow quiet. Hour by hour as more and more votes came in the room grew quieter until you could hear a pin drop. Jaws agape in amazement, shock, horror, excitement, disbelief, concern...and fear.

Everyone who claims to make a livelihood by being a professional political predictor got this one wrong. Not just wrong, VERY wrong. So what does that mean? It means this...

What we saw Tuesday, as we witnessed in the preceding Brexit referendum in Great Britain several months earlier, was confirmation that the establishment is deeply out of touch with the voices, will and desires of the people. Not just the American establishment mind you but the establishment of a great many western democracies. Apparently, we were so desperately fed up with it that we were willing to take a radical chance on someone we hope might have a chance at tearing it down, or at the very least make some heads roll.

I know what many of you are thinking, how can you justify even having a shred of belief in someone who spewed and seemingly supported such rhetoric? I have contemplated this myself. I was thinking of that same question when the victor appeared for his victory speech in New York in the early hours of the morning. Let me remind you again, fairly avid opponent to this candidate and his deplorably divisive discriminations. But what I noticed from the opening moments of the speech struck me. I saw someone who looked like he had just been force fed a huge slice of humble pie. Like he had just had one of those 'holy s***' moments when the gravity of something actually hits you in full. Because if it was a game before it certainly isn't now. It's no longer a gimmick, stunt, or ploy, too many lives are at stake. Maybe it never was but I have a difficult time believing it might not have been anything other than that early on. The distinct change wasn't so much in the words that were said, although they too might certainly be considered a departure (albeit a good one) from the speech one might consider normal for this candidate, but in the body language and noticeably quieter speech completely missing its habitually insightful tone and volume. The man looked like he had just been humbled in a major way, and I can only pray that is true. I can only pray that he meant what he said when he would be a leader for all Americans and not just a few select groups of Americans. I can only pray that now that he is where he is maybe we come to find out some of that nasty rhetoric was only hot air and that he will work for the people...all of them.

I am hopeful because we chose change even if it would certainly mean a bumpier path. We chose it because we feel we need it so desperately that if we don't get it now then we will have fallen into a hole too deep to dig ourselves out of. I am hopeful because we absolutely can change the system and cleanse the establishment of its vile stain of greedy corruption and rampantly reckless lust for power.

I also have my concerns. Deep concerns because I can also see it going so radically far in the opposite direction if much of what we have heard promised this year does come true. He is in a unique position to do what he has promised and fall victim to the seductions of corrupt partisanship. Or he can use the unique congressional position he is in to seek a bi-partisan approach to prosperity.

I don't know which approach we will see. No one does for sure, and that is certainly only fueling the fear and uncertainty that has gripped the people in the week since the results were announced. I can't say I blame them for being as concerned as they are after the year we all had. I know the next 18 months will be critical to determining the answer.

But we have certainly turned to a new page in the history of this country — a blank one. The sun is still rising in the morning, and the air is still cool in the evening. The light is still on at the desk and the pen is still in our hand. Always remember this, what is written on that page is up to us, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. It can be a daunting task to have a blank page be placed in front of you and be charged with filling the space with words.

A friend of mine once offered me this advice to compose myself: "Take a deep breath, close your eyes, put your pen to the page, start with one sentence and just go from there."

So take a deep breath America, because this nightmare of an election season is finally over. Close your eyes, because Twitter and Facebook are only giving you a headache right now. Let's put our pen to the page, and before we get too worked up about things that aren't even written on the page yet...let's start with one sentence...and go from there.