Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Politics and purging.

My lifestyle right now doesn't seem to be very conducive to blog posting. I am in purge mode for November, getting rid of the clutter and the hoarding of useless stuff. Again. It creeps in until you just know it is time.

My community life has been very busy with meetings and information sessions and all that goes with trying to keep ahead of the pack on what might be important for our little corner of the world. We got a bit of a smack down last week at a public meeting that got out of hand. Not sure why the negative people are often the only ones who show up for information sessions.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.
 I am working on the closer to the ground thing with my purging but keeping it simple, fair and not trying to control are the struggle for me.  How not to over complicate an issue so people can understand without condescending? How not to lash back at the naysayers who are really hurting the health and long term sense of community? And most of all trying not to control. It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can get everyone to think about an issue the way you do. To control their thinking. This then makes you want to control the outcome. And when you can't, it is difficult not to take it personally. Even if you tell yourself you aren't taking it personally you do at some level. The mind needs a good purge every once in a while too!

A former rather close-to-the-ground politician was quoted as saying after a vote:

"The people have spoke" 

It, with all of its grammatical flaws, comes to my mind when we have a vote and  the end result doesn't sit that well. It brings a smile to my face and helps to stop me thinking of trying to control the outcomes.



I read Hilary Clinton's latest book Hard Choices. It is a detailed description of her role as Secretary of State for the US. I learned a lot about foreign diplomacy and the control that the US and its allies try to exert on other countries. I finished it amazed that she had the stamina and fibre to do this for four years. Others have said this book is the beginning of her bid to run again for president of the United States. I hope she does and I hope she wins. I also realized that I read much more about American leaders than I do about our Canadian ones. I am planning to rectify that. 



                           Wish me luck!!! 














All of this is to say whatever level of community service you are engaged in is a struggle for people's hearts and minds while they worry about their pocketbook. I could not do this work on a larger scale and certainly not on the world stage. I applaud all those who take it on with the best interests of their community in mind.




4 comments:

  1. Politics bring all sorts. At least it was face to face- all this Facebook activism is great until it goes to spreading negativity...I also hope Hilary wins but I try not to say that too loud or often bc it seems like an invitation for a fight to some...hope u get to do dome draft writing as well

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    1. I'm trying to do the NaNoWriMo again this November--50000 words by the end of the month. Just sent second in Stella Page series to my copyeditor so not a lot of gas in the tank right now. But if you don't use it, it goes somewhere else!

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  2. Hilary amazes me. Where does she get the energy? I love Chantal Hebert. Can't wait for your review on her book. Good luck with the purge.

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  3. I have 4 bags of books for the library, and I have so much purging to do. Things in our house seem to rise up and then mysteriously wind up in the crawl space or my office, go figure! I love Hilary as well, but my god that was a slog to get through - she needed a good editor! I have so much on my to read list but I do think I need to read Justin's and Chantal's so let me know what you think!

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