Back on the scene, crispy and clean
I'm not sure if anyone's noticed but I've been "on hiatus" for most of the summer. Part of this was because I've been really busy and have been trying to spend as little time as possible in front of the computron while not working. The other part of it was I made a conscious decision to stop blogging. When i started doing this it was because I thought it was a good idea to help expand my business and give people a better idea about who I was, what motivated me, etc. The problem was that after a while I felt like the blog was turning into a vanity project and I became annoyed with it. I think thats an inherent pitfall with blogging in general; you forget who your audience is and you start doing it for yourself. thats what gournals are for, not internets.
With that being said, I'm back, and while I can't make any promises about if this will not suck I've developed a renewed sense of purpose lately so figure what they hey, lets get back to blogging.
Part of the "renewed sense of purpose" I referred to 5 seconds ago has to do with whats been consuming most of my free TV watching hours, the presidential race and the Democratic and Republican National conventions. I'm biting my tongue and will not be launching into any political missives or diatribes, but I need to bring this up briefly. What is currently unfolding is a really big deal (no kidding!), but the difference with this election and all the others I've participated in or witnessed in my 30 years of life is that I'm actually fired up about this one. I can honestly say I have never been more compelled and motivated about national politics at any other point in my life. I could point out that I'm at an age when these things start to really matter because you feel their effects firsthand, but beyond that I feel so involved because I am just so outraged about so much that has gone down in our country since its past two elections. I'm scared, actually terrified, as to how things may play out if we continue on our current trajectory and I've really never felt more of a need for change ever before.
Tonight John McCain gave a speech that was pretty friggin boring and played on his usual shpeel (sp?) of being a war hero and how that qualifies him to be president. I'm not going to get into it, but I will say that while 99% of his acceptance speech was largely forgettable there was one thing he said that did resonate with me. The notion of feeling no greater sense of purpose than serving a cause greater than yourself is not something McCain came up with, but when he brought it up tonight I stopped and thought about it for a minute.
It wasn't until being a parent that I ever felt a true sense of purpose in my life. For a lot of people this is the first time you're faced with truly putting your needs and wants secondary to that of another person. Being a parent is one of the most challenging things you can do in your life, but I'd argue that it is potentially the most rewarding as well. It wasn't until I was a parent that I really did realize my own mortality and while that in itself is particularly sobering, it's also pretty damn amazing as well. It was the first time I've ever really felt like a fire had been lit under me and has motivated me to do so much in what is a relatively short amount of time that we're given here. While this is all daunting and exciting and challenging and rewarding I've just never felt more motivated on so many levels. I'm doing my best to instill beliefs and knowledge in my son that can prepare him to move forward and succeed in what is currently a very messed up world. Still, I'm pretty upset about the possibility of things not getting better, but worse, for him and future generations. There are a lot of things I worry about, but one of my greatest fears is that my child and many others will suffer all because we didn't try hard enough to make this world a better place and we let things just slip and slide out of control. Last week when Barrack Obama gave his speech I felt something I've never felt before when hearing a politician speak. He gave a sense of optimism and promise of hope that filled me with the amazing feeling. I now think that progress and change truly are possible and things don't need to get worse before they become better. For the first time in my life I'm feeling like I'm advocating a cause that is greater than myself and it's pretty friggin amazing.
All this political talk reminded me of some pictures I made awhile back when I first really started to become angry about our political system and became motivated for change.
I really don't want 4 more years of nightmares like these.
With that being said, I'm back, and while I can't make any promises about if this will not suck I've developed a renewed sense of purpose lately so figure what they hey, lets get back to blogging.
Part of the "renewed sense of purpose" I referred to 5 seconds ago has to do with whats been consuming most of my free TV watching hours, the presidential race and the Democratic and Republican National conventions. I'm biting my tongue and will not be launching into any political missives or diatribes, but I need to bring this up briefly. What is currently unfolding is a really big deal (no kidding!), but the difference with this election and all the others I've participated in or witnessed in my 30 years of life is that I'm actually fired up about this one. I can honestly say I have never been more compelled and motivated about national politics at any other point in my life. I could point out that I'm at an age when these things start to really matter because you feel their effects firsthand, but beyond that I feel so involved because I am just so outraged about so much that has gone down in our country since its past two elections. I'm scared, actually terrified, as to how things may play out if we continue on our current trajectory and I've really never felt more of a need for change ever before.
Tonight John McCain gave a speech that was pretty friggin boring and played on his usual shpeel (sp?) of being a war hero and how that qualifies him to be president. I'm not going to get into it, but I will say that while 99% of his acceptance speech was largely forgettable there was one thing he said that did resonate with me. The notion of feeling no greater sense of purpose than serving a cause greater than yourself is not something McCain came up with, but when he brought it up tonight I stopped and thought about it for a minute.
It wasn't until being a parent that I ever felt a true sense of purpose in my life. For a lot of people this is the first time you're faced with truly putting your needs and wants secondary to that of another person. Being a parent is one of the most challenging things you can do in your life, but I'd argue that it is potentially the most rewarding as well. It wasn't until I was a parent that I really did realize my own mortality and while that in itself is particularly sobering, it's also pretty damn amazing as well. It was the first time I've ever really felt like a fire had been lit under me and has motivated me to do so much in what is a relatively short amount of time that we're given here. While this is all daunting and exciting and challenging and rewarding I've just never felt more motivated on so many levels. I'm doing my best to instill beliefs and knowledge in my son that can prepare him to move forward and succeed in what is currently a very messed up world. Still, I'm pretty upset about the possibility of things not getting better, but worse, for him and future generations. There are a lot of things I worry about, but one of my greatest fears is that my child and many others will suffer all because we didn't try hard enough to make this world a better place and we let things just slip and slide out of control. Last week when Barrack Obama gave his speech I felt something I've never felt before when hearing a politician speak. He gave a sense of optimism and promise of hope that filled me with the amazing feeling. I now think that progress and change truly are possible and things don't need to get worse before they become better. For the first time in my life I'm feeling like I'm advocating a cause that is greater than myself and it's pretty friggin amazing.
All this political talk reminded me of some pictures I made awhile back when I first really started to become angry about our political system and became motivated for change.
I really don't want 4 more years of nightmares like these.
posted by sokhos at
11:26 PM
1 Comments:
Word, dude...
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