I don't like to get political.

I don't like to bring it up.

Things get messy when they get political. They get tricky. And I don't like tricky, unless there is also a treat that follows and it is Halloween.

But at some point, things do get political. It is inevitable. Things get messy and we are forced to either embrace it or (try to) tune it out.

My house chose the second option this past weekend, in anticipation of the Republican National Convention. We chose to block it out and ignore the mayhem that was ensuing on the outside of our self-imposed bubble. The only problem was that we turned it back on Thursday and realized we'd missed what had happened.

This was indeed the intent, however, of our political blackout, and we could blame no one but ourselves that this did, unsurprisingly, happen. We quickly filled ourselves in on what had gone on, effectively negating any ignorance we had accumulated.

Hey––curiosity killed the cat, after all.

What I couldn't help but wonder, however, was why we were curious. It is nonsensical to worry and fuss over things that admittedly make us crazy, make us mad. But somehow, we seem to almost enjoy this frustration that comes with watching the news and complaining about candidates.

That is what politics is for, isn't it? That's my take at least. Forgive me if you think differently.

It is pervasive of our circular lives and makes it seem impossible to get out of the loop. Everywhere one turns, somethingis being debated and nothing is being answered.

We hear the same stories retold on ten different news stations each hour, still watching it the third time because we might learn something new, even when we realize they are using the same words and same phrasing as the last reporter.

We draw conclusions on our own and complain about the interminable use of the word "allegedly" when it is quite clear to everyone watching that s/he was indeed the culprit. They were caught on security camera, gosh darn it. S/he recorded the whole thing and posted it on Facebook afterwards. Yeah. I'm pretty sure they did it.

But still we watch.

We recognize that we probably have something better to be doing but excuse ourselves because we're doing our civic duty to be well-informed about the goings on of the world outside our own personal bubbles. Too bad the world is filled with bubbles and just because you've broken yours doesn't mean you're not still stuck in one.

We have bubbles galore––think of us as Bubble Land, but with a catchier name––where everything is spherical and we get uncomfortable when something gets popped.

We don't like to be popped. It would be a whole lot easier if there were no needles to pop us. It would be a whole lot cleaner if our bubbles were not transparent. We certainly seem to like pretending both these things were true.

But there are in fact needles and we can in fact see what's outside of us if we so choose.

So choose to see the needles and maybe––just maybe––you won't get popped.