Well, okay there’s paying attention and then there’s what you’re paying attention to that is more the question. I felt pretty melancholy today from about 10:00 to 7:00 and it has lifted somewhat.  Not quite sure what it was all about except that elections were going on all across the U.S. and feelings were flying around everywhere in quite a frenzy.  Some of us who have super sensitive nervous systems are like the finely tuned antennae on a moth and so we pick up all kinds of energy. Of course we do.

I’m grateful that I stopped putting drugs and alcohol into my body 20 plus years ago and 7.5 years ago added sugar, flour and quantities of food to that mix as well.  The good news is that it feels like I can catch my breath after years of stuffing it down. The not so good news is that I feel a whole lot more than I was ever aware of before when I did whatever I could to numb those feelings.

Ironically, I’m getting the opportunity to pay attention to what I’ve been paying attention to over the years.  Politics has been a dim light in the train wreck that were my thoughts.  Now I can see where there is a whole lot of history that I want to go back and research and study.  There are also so many resources more readily available for investigation of truth; however, figuring out which resources are most credible is the challenge.  Even my own family and close friends have their blind sides to what is “really” going on out there in the “real” world of politics.  I pretty much get it that if we humans, at least the ones of us who live in the U.S., don’t start realizing that it isn’t about us and them and always looking for the enemy that we are doomed to repeat what collapsed many a great civilization before us.  But first we have to understand how we got to where we are now.  Who is running our showboat?  Why do we choose to live in this country? What is our hope for the future?

In the faith tradition that I adopted a few years ago, we are encouraged not to be public about our political persuasions.  Our religion is one of unity and respect for many traditions out there.   You can scroll through my FB page and see many people who have very different political opinions but who do share many similar beliefs.  These are good people and yet these are the same people that when we think about “us vs. them” we would hate and say vial things about and make fun of because we do not know them as friends or family.

I know I’ve been guilty of apathy when it comes to paying attention to who and what is running my city, state and country.  I know part of the reason has been because in my own family I come at many things so differently then the rest of them that I’ve never felt quite safe and free to explore and have my own opinion.  But the other part is because I have a fundamental need for people around me to get along and when it comes to politics so many people do not…. all that makes me want to do is to run away.  I have a feeling I’m not alone.  Statistics tell it in the polls when we vote.

What and who are you paying attention to today?  Where will you make a difference?