The Peculiarity of the Vote

 Voting is a rare occurrence.  It happens least often than a birthday and it’s like going to see the nurse for an injection.  You think there should be something special behind the magic and mystery of political campaigning but in the end it’s just a piece of paper that needs crossing, then you wait.

I voted today but I’m not here to try to persuade you who to vote for, I simply want to record the adult feeling of participating in a democracy and the distinct blend of connection/ disconnection between the country as a whole and yourself as an individual. 

It’s a day where we all become powerful and are trusted enough to be put in the position to decide what is best for businesses and communities as a whole.  As a friend of mine said, it’s not in the broad strokes of people’s agreement that is interesting but the minutiae of the disagreeing details that are more fascinating.  The debates and discussions will go on and it is particularly fulfilling to be engaged with them as a human being but it is also important to note that politics cannot answer everything, there must be something else, in families, long walks and art.  Parties do not ultimately define us and we must be careful to pledge too much loyalty to them.

It is a peculiar thing, to vote.  Animals, as far as we know, do not do so yet the flourishing of our particular creation, civilization, demands that we must be able to.  Voting, if anything, reminds me of our strangeness as a species, an irresolvable facet of our being.