I've got to eat and fill out applications, but:):):):)...
...I needed to take a moment to say how incredibly proud I am of so many people taking this election and politics seriously this year...today:):):):):):):)...
Where I think we need to go is to a place where we just look after one another better:):):)...personally...autonomously and voluntarily:):):)...in our own communities:):):)...out of our own hearts:):):)...
And people getting psyched for an election is not the same thing as people looking after one another:):):)...
But it is something:):):)...it's people learning to take seriously the idea that their lives extend beyond the immediacy of their daily responsibilities:):):)...
Taking seriously the idea that SOMETHING -- ANYTHING -- other than apathy about the state of the world needs to take hold:):):)...
It's exciting:):):)...and a total confirmation of an thesis I developed when I was working at CLO:):):)...that people often, if not always, grow DESPITE their environments:):):)...not just because of them:):):)...
As Andrew Sullivan notes accurately, I think, these are dark times for lovers of freedom:):):):)...but...for some reason:):):)...people so innately need freedom:):):) -- even as they might deny it to their neighbor:):):) -- that they do eventually get over the apathy that controls and estrangement from decisions and lack of engagement and feelings and often realities of helplessness often generate:):):)...they eventually stand even as many forces work to actively knock them down...or at least stare at them, coldly, when they are down:):):)...
And it's exciting to see people take seriously the idea that it matters who leads them, even as they often sound -- I think, rightly -- dissappointed with their far from ideal choices:):):)...
It's also an affirmation of the idea that life is a constant option between less than ideal choices, hopefully becoming more ideal over time:):):)...
I've got to eat and to get to work on these applications:):):)...
I hope everyone is doing well:):):)...and that as they vote then also stop for a moment to get a little perspective on an important election...but just one more election, nonetheless:):):)...
Talk with everyone soon:):):)...
Love,
Ben
