the only voting-relevant icon i have (but also the best)

I voted absentee weeks ago, but I've been watching my friends back home do their part, today and for the last couple of weeks: voting today, volunteering for voting drives, giving people rides to polling stations, wading into (and/or starting) more discussions than I'm ever willing to have on fb. I wonder if my election anxiety is higher than theirs, now that I'm across the border and everything's out of my hands.

I know there are real reasons to dislike and disagree with Hillary Clinton, reasons that have nothing to do with emails; nothing to do with being "uncharismatic," or too loud, or shrill, or a woman seeking power. I know our two-party system is big and unwieldy and often results in choices that feel forced. I wrote a post on citizenship 6(?!) years ago that I'm still thinking about today, because my ambivalence about being USian may remain the same, but I still have a voice and a responsibility to use it. I've made my choice, as I hope everyone back home makes theirs today- a real choice, or a strategic one, rather than a protest. We could spend all our lives waiting for a perfect candidate and never find one. Reality is what it is.

Imperfect as she is, I'm standing with her. May the odds be ever in our favor.