Get Out and Vote

I’ve had quite a few things on my plate in the last month or two. At times, it seemed like too much, but I’m making it through. And soon enough in the New Year things will (hopefully) be a little less busy for me.

I am overwhelmed by the positive responses that we have been getting from the book. Our first book signing in our hometown at Levi Coe Library was an amazing experience. I am so pleased that so many people understand and appreciate the message in our book. When we were writing it, I had always felt that we were on to something huge. I had felt that what we were saying would really mean something to a lot of people. It is quite an experience to see something you dreamed and hoped for, to see what you’ve been working so hard toward start to become a reality. My father and I are truly blessed to be on this journey.

The election is just a little over a day away. I have spent a lot of time following this historic election. I think I’ve probably watched more CNN in the past few months than I have ever watched previously in my life. This whole election time has been a very emotional one for me as I am sure it has been for a lot of people. Although I know that one person cannot become the savoir for a single country, I am inspired by Barak Obama and his message. And it seems as though many of those who are voting for McCain in the coming election are just as emotionally invested as I am. With all this emotion swirling around the election, I find it amazing that some people just don’t care about it. Some people are completely indifferent, and they are just not voting.

What?! Not voting? The thought is completely incomprehensible to me. Voting is the best and maybe easiest way to make change and to have a lasting impact in the world in which you live. I have always had the desire, ever since I was young, to do something. When I say do something, I don’t mean to write the next great American novel or become a doctor or something like that. I’ve just always wanted to do something about the world around me. There were a lot of things I didn’t like about the world around me. Sometimes, I didn’t like the way people treated me. Sometimes, I didn’t like the way other people were treated. Things weren’t quite right with the world. There were good things, but there were also bad things. I always had wanted to do something about those bad things.

Voting seems like the simplest and easiest way to do something about the world around you. It’s a way to express yourself, to be an instrument of change. No skin off your back. I have a hard time believing that people are so self-involved that they don’t want to change the things that aren’t quite right in the world around them. I’m certainly not advocating that everyone should join the Peace Corps. But I am advocating that people get up, get involved, and vote on Tuesday. Maybe indifference as far as politics is concerned is foreign to me because I’m a bit of a weirdo as far as my life’s passion is concerned. I know not everyone grows up wanting to “change the world” in some way be it large or small, but I at least thought most people would care enough about their environment (social, natural or otherwise) to cast their vote. I don’t know. Maybe I’m right. Maybe I’m wrong. I guess we’ll see by the voter turn out on Tuesday. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.