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| Image courtesy vox_efx, creative commons |
When I wake up tomorrow morning, we will have a new President-elect, and frankly I don't care who it is because both the major party candidates nauseated me.
I voted for a small third-party that I was actually excited about, that I believe(d) in, and may try to get involved at the local level at some point. That was important to me--voting for something, rather than against.
If tomorrow morning you wake up in agony at the thought of our new president, ignore it. Better yet, put that energy into your community. Fill blessing bags for the homeless to carry in your car. Go to a parks commission meeting. Tutor a struggling student. Learn the names of the trees in your neighborhood. Know your watershed. Help a neighbor rake leaves. Learn your neighbor's names! Join a civic group. Buy some coffee for the teachers in the nearest school. Volunteer to watch children of the single parent down the street for two hours.
The point is..forget Washington, D.C., they've already forgotten you by Wednesday. Real change is going to happen in homes, churches and synagogues, schools, neighborhood groups, watershed organizations, Boy Scout troops, you name it. Slogans created by a focus group mean nothing. The time and treasure you put in to building your neighborhood are where it's at. It may not be sexy, but so what?
Challenge yourself. In what incremental way can you make your block a better place?
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