What Happens Inside of Us Affects the Whole Planet

t's a challenge to summarize how I feel the day before the 2016 election. The stress of the moment, the anxiousness of the world and the extreme differences in desires, weigh heavy on my soul.

I could talk about the exciting (bear) Cubs win. Or the ship (USS Bear), a famous 68 year old wooden sailing vessel that carried men safely to Antarctica and back. Or the Arctic polar bears endangered because the sea ice is melting. What does Bear medicine have to tell us?

Be in silence, nurture your receptive side, seek and find your own answers, take action on your creative projects and tear down the illusions of this physical world.

Here's my reflection.

It's election day 1916. George Washington Gibbs, Sr. votes for his Presidential candidate, Charles Evan Hughes. Hughes is a middle of the road Republican. As governor of New York, Hughes was a champion of progressive causes. GWGibbs Sr. is disappointed that a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, wins the election. So, on 11/7/1916, he changes his new son's name from Charles E. Hughes to George Washington Gibbs, Jr.

GWGibbs Jr., goes on to have an extraordinary life in the military, politics, corporate management, community leadership, entrepreneurship and family. At his birthday party (election day 11/7/2000),
George happily passes away thinking his candidate, Al Gore, wins the election. A political animal until death.

As I publicly acknowledge my father's 100th birthday, I wonder:

What history will we make on election day 2016?
How will our fate change?
What dreams wake, regardless of who wins?
And what is the golden thread that continues 100 years from now, in spite of our human drama?

What happens tomorrow affects the entire human race. What happens on Antarctica is the result of our actions. We are All Antarctica.

Leilani Henry at Holy Trinity Church (Russian: Церковь Святой Троицы), a small Russian Orthodox church on King George Island © Leilani Henry

George W. Gibbs Jr. aboard the USS Bear 1940 © Leilani Henry