I try to avoid talking about politics. It's stressful, it's divisive, and it's constantly changing. As a result, people tend to think I'm not involved or that I just don't care. This is not true. I care a great deal about the state of the city, county, state and country I live in. It's my home, and so I do my civic duty and vote in what I feel are the best interests of the people living around me. My neighbors, my community, my friends... I subscribe to a policy of doing as little harm as possible while trying to do the most good. I know I'm just one person, and that my impact on the world around me is relatively small. I'm not the loudest voice nor am I the largest wallet. Just a single cog in the machine that is society.
I take that position seriously.
However, I avoid discussing politics both online and in public because the subject is too divisive to result in civil conversations. In this day and age, everyone has an opinion on everything, and everyone is convinced that opinion is the only one that's right. Rather than fight with people about how their views and mine may not be identical but that doesn't mean we don't have any kind of common ground, I stay silent. It's simpler.
Simpler doesn't mean easier, though.
There's a constant barrage of news coming at us every minute of every day. Earthquakes in Puerto Rico have knocked out power to large parts of the island, fires in Australia have destroyed more than 32,000 square miles of land, Donald Trump was impeached and is now facing a Senate trial, and the US and Iran are threatening to go to war with each other for various reasons. So much is going on in the world right now it's easy to get overloaded. We've become so accustomed to information being at our fingertips whenever, wherever and however we feel we need it, we no longer have the ability to process it before the next breaking news story comes careening out of the dark.
It's worth my sanity to take a step back sometimes.
I'm not advocating for people to abandon their causes. That's not at all the case, here. I'm simply hoping that in the madness that surrounds us all on a daily basis, those who are fighting for a cause take the time to breathe, and to occasionally let things go. Dedication, perseverance and faith are all well and good, and they will help get things done. Those three things alone, however, aren't enough. We're getting burnt out, or desensitized if you will, from trying to process all the information thrown at us every second of every day. It's too much. The stress of all these things is too much for anyone to bear without pause.
So turn off the news. Put down your phone. Close your web browser and take a moment. Go outside. Watch a sunset. Play with a child or beloved pet. Do something to help ground you in the life that surrounds you, or else you will lose yourself in the quagmire of information bombarding you.
I promise, it'll all be worth it.
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