(not necessarily in that order)
I’ve never before felt such a powerful sense of relief after voting in an election. And I’ve never before felt so much urgency about voting early.
Tonight I’m feeling grateful for America and for democracy. Neither is perfect (nothing is in this world), but I definitely prefer them to the alternatives.
I love knowing my vote counts.
It’s been so busy this past week that I almost missed voting today.
I finally filled out my mail-in ballot and dropped it off at the voting center in North San Juan right before our 6:30 pm rehearsal. That’s definitely cutting it close!
The concerning thing is that I had a moment late in the afternoon when it seemed useless to vote, and I was tempted not to make the ten-minute drive to drop off my ballot. It made me realize that I was being affected by the negativity and cynicism that is so prevalent in our world right now. This got my attention!
It also renewed my commitment to vote and made me determined to pull back even more from reading the news. Doing so pulls down my energy and makes it that much harder to be a positive force for good in the world.
Then, with perfect timing, a friend shared this quote from her guru, Amma:
Don’t be discouraged by your inability to dispel all the darkness in this world; just light your one candle, and let it shine.
“Your ballot for the 2020 General Election was received and will be counted. Thank you for voting!”
It feels great to have this done.
It also brings back memories of living in Switzerland during the 2004 presidential elections. At that time I had only ever voted in person on Election Day and I wasn’t familiar with the absentee ballot process. So I missed the deadline (the only time in my adult life I didn’t vote for President).
The thing that surprised me was how passionately concerned my friends and family in Switzerland were about my participation in the process. For weeks I had people asking whether I had voted yet…and explaining to me about my right to an absentee ballot!
Some were actually rather upset with me when I admitted that I had missed the absentee ballot deadline! I had to assure them that — being from California, which was won handily by John Kerry — I hadn’t thrown the election to George Bush!
So I’m glad to have successfully voted, not just as an American, but also as a global citizen. Because I’m sure that this year my friends and family around the world are more passionately concerned with the outcome than ever before.