VOTE!

By Jon Thompson

 

Sedona AZ News: This summer, just before our primary election, I came across the above image while searching for something else and shared it with some friends. Now that we are just hours away from our general election, I wanted to share it with all of you.

 

Some of you may still be weighing your ballot choices. If you have already voted, I hope the experience was a happy one. Really. We can easily get stressed by tough choices at election time, and even the easy decisions are often made in a disagreeable cloud of claims and accusations that can leave us frustrated and angry. Not to mention worried about the results.  

 

So it’s good to reflect on the simple joy of voting that we are privileged to have. That moment when we drop our ballot in the mailbox or ballot box is an instant like none other in our lives. That simple act simultaneously asserts our individuality; gives us power equal to that of every other citizen regardless of wealth, status, or intelligence; and connects us with those citizens in a common cause and cooperative pact.

 

It’s a moment when we can and should rejoice that such a thing is possible and that we are allowed to experience it.

 

If you have not yet voted, I hope you are planning to. Not because you’re necessarily certain of your choices, not because you’ve been made to fear some negative outcome that must be avoided at all costs, and not even because you’ve been told it’s your “civic duty”. But because I hope you’ll feel the joy of participating in arguably the most equalizing and empowering communal act that humankind has ever devised.

 

Happy voting!