The next few paragraphs are going to get a little political, so if you want to skip it, power to you! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programing about my excitingly dull life next week.
A few weeks ago, I registered to vote for the first time. I'm almost 25. Due to my state's policies, I don't believe my presidential vote counts for anything, and that makes me sad. This is the first election I've ever paid attention to. I watched the convention and the debates, looked up information about the candidates, read the fact check articles (from NYT and USAToday) after debates and speeches, and looked into how voting actually works so that I had a better understand of how our government operates (high school did a crap job of that). But why now? Why am I suddenly interested in politics.
This election has been a circus. Hate is being spewed like lose change, mud is being thrown and every other day there seems to be a scandal. Real issues, many involving women and their rights are being talked about. Things that impact me. Because of this, everyone is picking sides and leaving America in the middle like a child being tossed between divorcing parents. The news reports, debates and other information is making me question what is happening to our world and to be honest, it's terrifying. In my opinion, there is a clear winner, but no one LOVES either candidate. No one has said "Yep, they're going to be the greatest president ever!", but isn't that the way it's always been? Have we ever truly, 100% agreed with any politician? No. We're not wired that way. We're not supposed to agree or like everything about anyone! Now before you tell me I'm wrong, think about your spouse/significant other. Do you love EVERYTHING about them? Probably not, and that's okay. You learned to love them with their faults anyway.
Thinking about it, I think the reason people get so angered and fired up about politics is because it is change and we are not wired to like change. As humans we need routine and consistency. It makes us feel safe. Choosing a new public figure for the free world is a major change! We don't know how to handle it, so we freak out.
One question that I've had for a while is why aren't we having debates with (at least televised ones) and fighting over our house, senate and congress representatives? They're the ones with the most power in this equation. They can make or break a law/bill depending on their mood or need for a temper-tantrum.
The election is almost over (thankfully!) and then we can go back to our lives of hearing about the representatives and senators fighting over who has the talking stick. I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend the next few weeks getting to know and understand these candidates. They're the ones who are going to make real change.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Allow Me to Get Political for a Moment
The next few paragraphs are going to get a little political, so if you want to skip it, power to you! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programing about my excitingly dull life next week.
A few weeks ago, I registered to vote for the first time. I'm almost 25. Due to my state's policies, I don't believe my presidential vote counts for anything, and that makes me sad. This is the first election I've ever paid attention to. I watched the convention and the debates, looked up information about the candidates, read the fact check articles (from NYT and USAToday) after debates and speeches, and looked into how voting actually works so that I had a better understand of how our government operates (high school did a crap job of that). But why now? Why am I suddenly interested in politics.
This election has been a circus. Hate is being spewed like lose change, mud is being thrown and every other day there seems to be a scandal. Real issues, many involving women and their rights are being talked about. Things that impact me. Because of this, everyone is picking sides and leaving America in the middle like a child being tossed between divorcing parents. The news reports, debates and other information is making me question what is happening to our world and to be honest, it's terrifying. In my opinion, there is a clear winner, but no one LOVES either candidate. No one has said "Yep, they're going to be the greatest president ever!", but isn't that the way it's always been? Have we ever truly, 100% agreed with any politician? No. We're not wired that way. We're not supposed to agree or like everything about anyone! Now before you tell me I'm wrong, think about your spouse/significant other. Do you love EVERYTHING about them? Probably not, and that's okay. You learned to love them with their faults anyway.
Thinking about it, I think the reason people get so angered and fired up about politics is because it is change and we are not wired to like change. As humans we need routine and consistency. It makes us feel safe. Choosing a new public figure for the free world is a major change! We don't know how to handle it, so we freak out.
One question that I've had for a while is why aren't we having debates with (at least televised ones) and fighting over our house, senate and congress representatives? They're the ones with the most power in this equation. They can make or break a law/bill depending on their mood or need for a temper-tantrum.
The election is almost over (thankfully!) and then we can go back to our lives of hearing about the representatives and senators fighting over who has the talking stick. I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend the next few weeks getting to know and understand these candidates. They're the ones who are going to make real change.
A few weeks ago, I registered to vote for the first time. I'm almost 25. Due to my state's policies, I don't believe my presidential vote counts for anything, and that makes me sad. This is the first election I've ever paid attention to. I watched the convention and the debates, looked up information about the candidates, read the fact check articles (from NYT and USAToday) after debates and speeches, and looked into how voting actually works so that I had a better understand of how our government operates (high school did a crap job of that). But why now? Why am I suddenly interested in politics.
This election has been a circus. Hate is being spewed like lose change, mud is being thrown and every other day there seems to be a scandal. Real issues, many involving women and their rights are being talked about. Things that impact me. Because of this, everyone is picking sides and leaving America in the middle like a child being tossed between divorcing parents. The news reports, debates and other information is making me question what is happening to our world and to be honest, it's terrifying. In my opinion, there is a clear winner, but no one LOVES either candidate. No one has said "Yep, they're going to be the greatest president ever!", but isn't that the way it's always been? Have we ever truly, 100% agreed with any politician? No. We're not wired that way. We're not supposed to agree or like everything about anyone! Now before you tell me I'm wrong, think about your spouse/significant other. Do you love EVERYTHING about them? Probably not, and that's okay. You learned to love them with their faults anyway.
Thinking about it, I think the reason people get so angered and fired up about politics is because it is change and we are not wired to like change. As humans we need routine and consistency. It makes us feel safe. Choosing a new public figure for the free world is a major change! We don't know how to handle it, so we freak out.
One question that I've had for a while is why aren't we having debates with (at least televised ones) and fighting over our house, senate and congress representatives? They're the ones with the most power in this equation. They can make or break a law/bill depending on their mood or need for a temper-tantrum.
The election is almost over (thankfully!) and then we can go back to our lives of hearing about the representatives and senators fighting over who has the talking stick. I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend the next few weeks getting to know and understand these candidates. They're the ones who are going to make real change.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Welcome Back
Hi Friends,
It's been a while since I've posted anything. I'd like to say that I've been off having grand adventures, saving the world or doing something remarkable...but that would be a lie. Truth is, I've just been adulting. I have wanted to get back into blogging for a while, so I'm making a commitment to myself to blog every week through the end of the year. The posts will probably be on Sundays, since that's when I have the most time, but don't totally hold me to that. I don't know what the posts will be about, but I have some ideas. There are a handful of bad date stories that I've tried countless times to use in a novel, but just can't get them to work and they're too good not to share. I have thoughts on current world situations, books that I NEED to review and some other things that might just come out as ramblings. Either way, I wanted a place to share them and this long forgotten blog seemed like the best place to do that.
I'm also getting much more serious about wanting to publish a novel (which one is still up in the air). I'm looking into agents and publishers and considering the pros and cons to self-publishing. No matter which route I go, I know I need to have an online identity. No one will buy my books (beyond my mother) if they don't know about them. What's the point of being a writer if you don't have at least one reader?
So this is it. I'm committing to three months of weekly blogs where I basically can dump the contents of my brain out, discuss how I'm feeling about writing (read: probably complaining), and share thoughts that I just don't have the willpower to dump onto Facebook. A link to a blog is much easier to ignore than a three paragraph post killing your scroll time. I hope you check back weekly and will share your thoughts on my thoughts. Let's reopen conversation!
*R
It's been a while since I've posted anything. I'd like to say that I've been off having grand adventures, saving the world or doing something remarkable...but that would be a lie. Truth is, I've just been adulting. I have wanted to get back into blogging for a while, so I'm making a commitment to myself to blog every week through the end of the year. The posts will probably be on Sundays, since that's when I have the most time, but don't totally hold me to that. I don't know what the posts will be about, but I have some ideas. There are a handful of bad date stories that I've tried countless times to use in a novel, but just can't get them to work and they're too good not to share. I have thoughts on current world situations, books that I NEED to review and some other things that might just come out as ramblings. Either way, I wanted a place to share them and this long forgotten blog seemed like the best place to do that.
I'm also getting much more serious about wanting to publish a novel (which one is still up in the air). I'm looking into agents and publishers and considering the pros and cons to self-publishing. No matter which route I go, I know I need to have an online identity. No one will buy my books (beyond my mother) if they don't know about them. What's the point of being a writer if you don't have at least one reader?
So this is it. I'm committing to three months of weekly blogs where I basically can dump the contents of my brain out, discuss how I'm feeling about writing (read: probably complaining), and share thoughts that I just don't have the willpower to dump onto Facebook. A link to a blog is much easier to ignore than a three paragraph post killing your scroll time. I hope you check back weekly and will share your thoughts on my thoughts. Let's reopen conversation!
*R
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