Time to Vote

In 1972, I voted for the first time. I was among the first group of American citizens allowed to vote at age 18 (before that, one had to be 21--- laws were changed in part due to the heavy draft of 18, 19 and 20 year olds who could be tapped to serve and die in VietNam but were not permitted to vote). I was actually 17, but was permitted to vote in November since my 18th birthday was in December that same year.

I remember how proud I was to vote and how excitedly I did my research on the candidates and issues at hand, how prepared I felt to go into the booth and exercise my right, a right my grandmother did not have until her mid 20's.

Much has happened since those days and I've become cynical about a great many things, politics among them, as many of my social media contacts are painfully aware.

But, I usually had hope that we were moving forward, at least in some areas, chief among them women's rights, human rights.

I wept when, here in the U.S., we elected our first African-American to the highest office, even though I disagreed with him on some of his environmental policies.

I wept too at the thought that we might elect our first woman president and I might live to see it, even though I disagreed with her on a few of her ideologies and past decisions.

I was stunned, shocked and dismayed when I saw the results of the 2016 election and the turbulence that has followed since as we have entered the age of the Twitter-in-Chief and are continuously bombarded with outlandish statements, each one more offensive than the last and fear-mongering which incites violence, hatred and heightened anxiety.

Now, as we approach the November 2018 mid-term elections, I fear we are at an important crossroad....one where almost our very basic freedoms and rights and even the defining qualities of what it means to be human are on the line.

I have many international contacts on my social media accounts and I watch their reactions to the ridiculous circus our Executive Branch has become....I have no answers for them.

I have to limit my exposure to the whirlwind of hate-speak and clear racist/sexist sentiments being spouted for fear of ending up in a constant state of unshakable nausea.

I have heard statements uttered that have rendered me speechless and cut me to the bone, and left me wondering what world there will be for my beautiful grand-daughter.

But I have hope.

These mid-term elections have already set records for early voting...33 million is a number I have heard.

Over 120 women are running for seats in the House.

We could have a Muslim-American woman, a Palestinian-American woman, a Native-American woman and even a brash 29 year old woman bringing their diverse and fresh ideas to the 'old boys' club'.

America's diversity and willingness to embrace the out-liers has ALWAYS been our strength. The efforts to make everyone the same and keep out anyone different, to 'purify' has always failed....in genetics it is disastrous to 'breed for recessive traits'.  We NEED diversity to thrive even on a biological level.

With the challenges ahead of us, we need all of our ideas, our diverse cultures and above all, CLEAR-HEADED thinking, to flourish in these times, and by flourish, I don't mean continuing to line the pockets of those at the top standing on the backs of those at the bottom. America does not need to be the next pyramid scheme.

Wouldn't it be amazing if the youth of today and the WOMEN of today and the Hispanics, the African-Americans, the Independents, all joined together in a spirit of unity and took this country back?

"Imagine all the people living life in peace". ~John Lennon.
Wouldn't it be amazing?

I will vote Tuesday.  I will exercise my right and hopefully a message is sent to Washington.  Enough.  The time for change is now.

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Since very early this year I have been on a nutritional quest and have been researching up a storm in an attempt to tweak my predominately whole-food plant-based diet and ensure I'm getting all the nutrients I need as I age into my 60's, and (hopefully) beyond.

I'm using a variety of sources, evidence-based advice, nutritionists, and my personal experience to guide me.  I hope to summarize my findings thus far as I begin to pick up writing again here on the blog.

Peace,
Sue, voting in Ohio