this election season has brought out the worst in people. well, especially me. i realize i am traumatized from kerry's loss 4 years ago. i remember as if it were yesterday the hope and over-the-moon excitement i felt that he might win, only to wake the next morning to find out the devastating news that there would be 4 more years of hades. i have wanted to get my hopes up in this election, to feel the elation and joy at the coming of a new dawn. the stats certainly support that. but, somehow, way over here in korea, i have not been able to let myself get into a glory state of mind. not yet, at least. maybe it's the isolation of being far from home during the biggest u.s. presidential election of my lifetime. maybe it's partly due to the strange and hostile interactions i've had with right wingers lately. it could also be the tendencies i've been experiencing towards unusual amounts of superstition, thinking every little move i make could effect the election results! ridiculous. no amount of yoga or meditation or alcohol seems to bring relief. so, i'm just giving in to the massive anxiety and internet addiction - checking the news and blogs every 10 minutes for the latest scrap of information. i'm surrendering to the inability to sleep or eat, as well as to the incessant bouts of rage and contempt that i feel towards mccain/palin supporters. only one more day. however, mind you, it's november 4th in korea. it has been ALL DAY LONG, but u.s. voters are sound asleep in their little november 3rd beds. it won't truly be election day until tomorrow. this madness has gone on for way too long.
with all of that said, i do hope with every ounce of my being that election day brings us, in the words of mark morford, "the glorious return of dangerous possibility." more peace and less fear, for instance. wouldn't that be something.
1 comment:
right on! Love, love, love the Morford quote. Well, it's here. We're awake, we're voting. I have chills, I have an absolutely nervous, queasy stomach. I can barely stand it. I'm going to work from home so I can check the Internet. I've got KPFA on the radio. I'm watching droves of people show up to our polling place across the street from our house. K. voted this morning. I sent my ballot in last week. Everyone seems to believe Obama will win, but I just can't let myself completely go there yet... the Republicans have taught us only too well that they know how to steal elections... My wish is for a huge landslide, that McCain and Palin suffer an embarassingly big defeat.
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