my office window
21 DAYS TILL ELECTION DAY!
What can I do to help
reelect the President?
Today's assignment may be the most important one yet - the one that makes all the other things you do on this campaign possible: Step Back. Rest. Breathe. Go outside. Turn off the news. Gain perspective.
(A quick instruction for how to read this post: scroll to the bottom, click on play, and let the music soothe you as you gaze at each picture and read the text. You'll thank me.)
What can I do to help
reelect the President?
Today's assignment may be the most important one yet - the one that makes all the other things you do on this campaign possible: Step Back. Rest. Breathe. Go outside. Turn off the news. Gain perspective.
(A quick instruction for how to read this post: scroll to the bottom, click on play, and let the music soothe you as you gaze at each picture and read the text. You'll thank me.)
It's three weeks until election day! Perhaps it won't kill us after all. It's also debate day - #2 for the Presidential candidates. I'm only able to jump back in right now because I had to step out a bit. And I recommend it! On Sunday I watched football and cooked steaks and roasted vegetables, and had cinnamon cake and red wine. On Monday I watched police shows and cleaned the house, walked the dog in the rain, which we both liked, read a Jack Reacher novel, and fell asleep. I suggest to anyone getting especially worked up as we head into the final three weeks find a way to refresh and recharge. The perspective you can gain is amazing.
Do a mental exercise about what you trust. Think about where you are with this election season. Start with the surface, your outer most concern, and determine what you trust in that area. Then edge in deeper in layers till you find that core of trust you need to be happy and sane no matter what happens in the country around you. I'll share mine.
I still trust the President
as a candidate. I trust his skills
to win over the confidence of voters,
and make a strong case.
I trust the country no matter what. If Romney is elected, I trust myself and other liberals to become the Bush/Noonan "Thousand Points of Light."
We'll keep the bottom from falling out.
I trust that if Romney were elected,
this could be the four years it finally takes
for people to realize
we simply can't afford to elect
an Ebeneezer Scrooge with a scary foreign policy
to be President anymore.
I trust my family and friends to bear up if we miss out on the tangible ways Obamacare was scheduled to help us. I trust us to help our daughter if she can't find a good job out of school,
and our sons if they get laid off.
And I trust myself. I will grieve for a little while, then I'll roll up my sleeves and see what needs to be done to balance on the local level what will be happening in Washington.
I will always trust me.
as a candidate. I trust his skills
to win over the confidence of voters,
and make a strong case.
I trust the country no matter what. If Romney is elected, I trust myself and other liberals to become the Bush/Noonan "Thousand Points of Light."
We'll keep the bottom from falling out.
I trust that if Romney were elected,
this could be the four years it finally takes
for people to realize
we simply can't afford to elect
an Ebeneezer Scrooge with a scary foreign policy
to be President anymore.
I trust my family and friends to bear up if we miss out on the tangible ways Obamacare was scheduled to help us. I trust us to help our daughter if she can't find a good job out of school,
and our sons if they get laid off.
And I trust myself. I will grieve for a little while, then I'll roll up my sleeves and see what needs to be done to balance on the local level what will be happening in Washington.
I will always trust me.
  |  |   |   |
My son has a friend visiting from France, who tells us that the conflict about whether to remain in the EU is raging. There is much dissent and people threaten each. There is rising terrorism in her country. The economy is bad - interest is high and the unemployment rate is 15%.
Another friend just returned from a visit to Spain and said the strikes and protests are everywhere. They had little food on the 8 hour trip back to the US because food workers were striking. Their unemployment rate is near 25%!
We have to keep in perspective that smirking and bluster at a debate, and angry words on Facebook, and mean-spirited TV commercials, all these are on a different end of the spectrum from the kind of unrest they are feeling in Europe, and certainly from the violent upheavals in the Middle East. This is not to say we should ignore the problems in our own process - we must work to fix them. Maybe this perspective will help us learn to address them with more equanimity.
Another friend just returned from a visit to Spain and said the strikes and protests are everywhere. They had little food on the 8 hour trip back to the US because food workers were striking. Their unemployment rate is near 25%!
We have to keep in perspective that smirking and bluster at a debate, and angry words on Facebook, and mean-spirited TV commercials, all these are on a different end of the spectrum from the kind of unrest they are feeling in Europe, and certainly from the violent upheavals in the Middle East. This is not to say we should ignore the problems in our own process - we must work to fix them. Maybe this perspective will help us learn to address them with more equanimity.
So I missed a couple of days of handing out your assignments. I'm sure you had things you came up with on your own. Write me and tell me what you did, and/or give me suggestions for new assignments! And meanwhile, sit back and listen to Blue in Green by Miles Davis. Ahhhhhhh.
