I believe.

Because going back is not an f’ng option.

“So, Jo… what’d ya think is (gulp)… gonna happen?”

I get that question at least half a dozen times a day now. At home among my friends. In a text message from an old college beau, from strangers and co-creators in Twitter DMs and Facebook messages. The other day, even my infamously disinterested cat Tom gave me a weird look and it wasn’t his usual “Where’s my food bitch” face either. I have long suspected he was a Trump voter, now I’m not so sure.

And I get it. This is pretty much all I talk about after all, it’s my passion and my livelihood, and I have earned about 4 million bots and trolls doing it. I’ve been fighting for this democracy since Trump first came down that goddamn gilded escalator and wanting a better future for my kids has been the driving force in my life for the better part of the last decade, so I understand why people might want to know what I think is gonna happen.

And I also get that people are genuinely freaked the fuck out right now. This thing we’ve long since known COULD happen but avoided really thinking about actually happening — is here, and it’s drunk, it’s angry, it is standing at the door, banging to get in, upsetting the neighbors and scaring the kids.

And we all just want to know that the door is gonna hold. That the police are gonna come and drag his evil, orange ass away. We just want to KNOW he’s not going to be able to hurt us again. Or hurt us anymore.

And right now, we don’t know.

I don’t know.

But I do know what I believe.

I believe in what SHOULD happen, so that’s what I’m going to focus on actually happening.

I don’t see the utility in painting scenarios in which he wins in much the same way I don’t imagine I’m going to find a giant water bug in my Greek salad at Panera.

I am happy blissfully ordering my salad expecting it to be perfectly delicious and without the surprise addition of any members of the family Belostomatidae.

Whenever I spend the bulk of my time and energy focusing on the worst possible scenarios, the worst possible scenarios tend to play out.

Just take my wedding for example. I spent weeks and weeks worried it would rain during my mid-October outdoor wedding. The wedding I had spent a literal decade imagining. But when I woke up to bright blue skies and a clear weather forecast, I took a deep, deep breath, looked out the window and thought to myself, “But what IF it rains later?”

And then, as I made my way in the limo to walk the lakeside aisle we had showered with rose petals, and made the final turn down the road to the wedding site, the sky turned black. My sister looked at my eyes darting across the horizon, “It’s fine. It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” She said.

She lied.

It was not fine. As I stepped onto the path down to the lake, the wind whipped my veil off my head. And then… the sky opened up, unleashed the fury of a thousand years of pent up rage (or so it seemed) and all hell broke loose.

The assembled friends and family waiting in front of the lake for me to finally make my appearance, had to run. Up a hill. A very steep, very muddy, very, very slippery hill.

And my mom was in a wheelchair.

Yes, really.

So — I try really, really hard to avoid painting pictures of doomsday scenarios in my mind. I try to focus all of my energy on the outcomes I want. The results I want. The success I want. The future I want.

The freedoms I want.

We endured four years of Trump. We know how bad it was. We know how much worse it would be. We can talk about that without putting stock into believing he will win.

I talk all the time about the hypotheticals of what he represents. What he PLANS to do.

But that melon-hued motherfucker actually winning this thing? Nah, I’m not spending a drop of my energy on channeling that shit. I don’t see the utility in putting that reality out into the universe.

We still have to vote like our lives depend upon it though, because they do.

We still have to use our voices and our votes like our democracy requires it, because it does.

Nothing is predetermined here. No outcome is impossible.

But in the end, for me — this all comes down to what I believe.

I believe in the American people. I really do. I say it all the fucking time. And I believe that like Kamala so often says, there is far more that unites us than divides.

I beleive that we know what is at stake right now. We know the danger. We all want to protect our daughters and our sons.

We all want more freedom, not less.

I believe in the promise of America. And I believe the American people understand that this election is a not just about being against something, but being FOR something.

For that new path forward she talks about so often. The one in which ALL Americans get a seat at the table. The new path Joe Biden laid the groundwork for.

I believe we are far more interested in building something better than we are in tearing everything down.

We the people have the power to shape the future and I believe we will choose a future that turns the page on Donald Trump. A future that turns the page for all of us towards a brighter, fairer, more inclusive future with a decent, law-abiding, incredibly capable and qualified Black woman at the helm.

A future in which Kamala Harris is the 47th President of the United States of America.

A future in which Donald Trump will be facing the first of what should be multiple prison sentences. Far, far away from the White House.

That’s what I believe should happen.

That’s what I’m going to focus on.

I don’t have a crystal ball. If I did, Fat Joe wouldn’t have performed before the Yankees game 3 or appeared on the Jumbotron in game 5.

But he did.

So while we don’t yet know the outcome, we can still work towards making what we want a reality. So, let’s fucking win this thing shall we?

Let’s focus on what we want. Not on what we don’t. And let’s fight for it.

Because when we fight — WE WIN!!!!

Last night I was at Kamala’s incredible rally in Philadelphia. I was there for 6 1/2 hours and the crowd never lost an ounce of their excitement and optimism.

I believe that is a good sign.

I love you guys.

Thank you for being here.

And remember, we are not going back!!

No water bugs in this Greek salad!!!

I believe.