Reflections on a divisive time in history from someone who’s been here for over a century.

It seems that we are going through a period of the “dark night of the soul,” both nationally and globally, as an entire planet. These phases have a way of presenting themselves to us from time to time in history, both personally and collectively. They are always painful, and even more so when only seen from the single perspective of what seems hurtful… as failure, loss, lack, or destruction of values. That is when fear reigns.

I can see that I might envisage another perception concerning the reality we are experiencing, especially but not exclusively in the political scene. One in which it is viewed as an opportunity in our continuing evolution. There is a saying that goes something like, “Enlightenment comes in the dark.” Using Trumpism as a metaphor for darkness – with its hatefulness, tribalism, and rejection of the truth – we cannot remain oblivious. We are impelled to react or respond. We have nowhere to hide from it.

In the past, so many things and behaviors were kept hidden. It was easier to remain unaware. No longer.

Perhaps there will come a time when there isn’t even a rug we can find to sweep the dirt under. Perhaps this is the true “Age of Revelation” where all is revealed. Now seems to be a time we can no longer avoid facing the hard realities of the consequences of our private and collective behavior, and how each of us must give closer attention to how we play our own role.

We are forced into finding better answers.

We are in a time when we are forced into finding better answers, better solutions, because this reality, these circumstances are just too intolerable or just are simply not working, or even capable of destroying us. Perhaps our most significant learning as a collective (and individual) comes from what isn’t working well for us, with the result that we have the opportunity for our creative juices to become activated into finding ways for restoring harmony and healing in what could be an ever-expanding inclusivity. That is, at least, a possibility.

But first we have to be made aware of how tribal we are, seeing the “other” as the enemy, and how deeply separating and divisive that is, before we can move into more inclusivity. At one time in our history, tribalism was probably comforting, but now it is painfully separative. Maybe this is a phase of human evolution, as our species catches up to our globalized way of living. I try to think of our present time and events as playing out their role in our ever-growing awareness of our commonality.

Now as never before we are truly in survival mode, as a collective and for the entire planet. Perhaps it takes that kind of painful realization to motivate us into change. If that is true, then Trumpism is a powerful catalyst in alerting us to the most endangering qualities a collective can face – not only just in a leader, but in a collective itself. Now we know – and it’s up to us to act humanely and positively, instead of succumbing to an ever-darker path.

ELIZABETH MARTIN is 103 years old and lives in Pacific Grove, where she is a poet and philosopher.