So here’s the thing: politics are not my bag.
This may be a slight exaggeration but let me say that my political knowledge ended when my ex took his DVD of School House Rocks when we divorced. I mean, I have a passing knowledge of what’s the haps but honestly, I would watch Scandal and be more taken by the scenery (Washington, DC is gorgeous!) instead of paying attention to the political storylines.
And because I kept telling myself that “I don’t know politics” I would avoid posting my thoughts and feelings other than a throwaway tweet or Facebook share because sometimes those memes are just right. But, but, but…with an administration determined to “make america great” by means that are divisive, fear inducing and just plan frightening, it’s time for me to stop acting like my name is Aaron Burr in which I wait for it.
But here’s the other thing…life as I know it, while being altered due to “dt” is not waiting and there has some sense of normalcy. I still work and love sharing selfies with babies (shameless plug to check me on Instagram because those babies are so cute!). There are times when I am sharing the yarn things that I am creating because I did that thing. There are cats and my dinner and social media shares. My wonderful family moments should be shared and yo, check it, I’ve been making and creating recipes that are the bomb and I am going to share that.
It seems odd to down the man in one tweet and then share an ad for a picture book I am reviewing. Will the people who are reading my blog and following me on social like it? Will people be like, “She is trying to do too much” Will having my emotions r will they find that it’s difficult
A few days ago my friend Paige shared a post on Facebook about her seemingly frivolous mixture of posts.
Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead
I’m a Democrat, mainly because that’s the way it was
When Obama ran for president the first time, The Bee was into learning aas and I feline I don’t know enough about them to speak on them and that my opinion, while my opinion will sound like some circular logic that will not make
My Facebook friend Paige wrote a post about the “nice” people who are her friends:
For all my nice friends…
You know, I actually feel super weird about posting a photo of my daughter in dance class yesterday. I feel weird about posting promotions for my various businesses. I feel weird about liking pictures of your dogs.
I know the world has to go on. We can’t not take our children to ballet or get pets or promote businesses to try to support our families. We can’t not take vacations or get haircuts or document our kids being adorable kids.
But really WHAT FRESH HELL does it take for some of you to “like” every photo of our kids and dogs and dinners and jewelry and NOT even so much as acknowledge that we are locking Syrian babies out of our country to die on a beach? To be completely nonplussed that the founder of Breitbart has unprecedented power, akin to the fucking Emporer to Trump’s Vader? To realize that even the most level-headed, experienced thinking minds among us are fully sure we are headed toward a full-on nuclear war. To have voted for Trump for WHATEVER reason and still tell us to “give him a chance” when Amy Siskind and Dan Rather are providing really nice daily updates on our descent into fascist totalitarianism.
I’m not asking you to write the great democratic manifesto. I don’t need you to quit your job, abandon your kids, and chain yourself to an oil well. But your silence and your “changing the subject” and your “let’s agree to disagree” and your silence and did I mention your SILENCE.
Just know that we see you. WE SEE YOU.
Paige’s words spurred me to do. I wasn’t posting “regular”content because it seemed too frivolous. I wasn’t posting “political” content because that content seemed too uninformed and divisive. But, y’all…talking less and smiling more is no way to exist. It does not matter that I don’t know all the things. This is the time to get to know and learn. I have an opinion and that opinion is the world is scary, I don’t like it and while I cannot change everything, I can make my voice heard to empower the people who can make a change. The things that I CAN do: stop sharing fake news, allowing the shock and GOTCHA! nature of news become the narrative instead of digging into the meat of the story.
There are friends who know what the deal is. Such as Kelly Wickham Hurst who started Being Black at School but also shares personal pictures which inspires and hopes. There are sites that make me howl, Very Smart Brothers, but also gives me food for thought. There are other friends who are there to tell me that I am not alone in my confusion but we are going to figure it out and make a way to balance the world turning upside down with what is normal.
That said, stay tuned for posts about a plethora of things: local Philly things, family things and me trying to figure out what the ever loving f*ck is going on in this world. I’m not allowing my fear to dictate how I live and here’s a kitty high five to get me going.
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A very important issue I think we are all grappling with. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter.
I think when we are grappling with so much of what’s going on around us, it’s important to find a good balance between enjoying life and working through our feelings about the serious issues surrounding us. It’s hard to do sometimes, but at this point I’m trying hard not to get lost in either.