I was absorbing my daily dose of OPB when a report came on the radio about the recent Democratic Convention in Nevada and the violence that erupted there. My mind began to churn with thoughts about how people's personal, violent, racist, homophobic, pro-life, and sexist beliefs appear during the months before an election. In order to calm the negativity that began to drown me -- I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and imagined American politics as an ocean.
Let me paint a picture for those who also need a creative way to cope with the election season. Turn your volume up, listen to this track, and dive into this visualization with me.
This vast, deep, tumultuous body of water consumes more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet. About 97 percent of the Earth's water can be found in our oceans. Of the small amount that's not in the ocean, roughly two percent is locked away in glaciers and ice caps. American politics and the election season is constantly lapping at the shorelines of our planet, slowly and silently moving sand and organisms around -- eating some while spitting out others.
Every four years a storm hits and our political views are the rising tide. Climaxing with these impending storms. The ebb and flow of our emotions become stronger and more pronounced. Each branch, department, and political party represents the various layers of the ocean. The big storm churns up creatures from the dark layers of the sea, while casting others deeper into the Abyss.
There is a lack of biodiversity in our government, with only a few types of crustaceans following a path in the sand from the scavengers before them. These are the one's who decide who gets what shell to live in and how many scraps of tuna fish some of us get. The ocean remains in a murky balance as long as the tiny creatures are working to stabilize it; little cogs in the maritime machine.
The ocean has lost its transparency -- the waters cloudy. We watch as coral rots from dirty money, deeply rooted and often discriminating religious overtones, deception, and lies. There are those of us trying to rid the water of its murkiness, filtering out nonsense through our gills; extracting and expelling the layers of sediment collected over time. Some of us are detached -- floating in the murky water without weight - while others sink hard and fast.
Every four to eight years there is a major change in the tide -- a tide that swiftly changes the landscape. This tide erodes what those before have built and removed -- and it's time that we tiny little creatures elect someone who will carve their own line in the sand. Some have the energy to engage politically in an active and vocal way, while others find solace building their own sand castle in the home or greater community -- both are valiant ways of participating.
I know sometimes we can feel like we are drowning, but we should not sink idly, for we are not an idle generation. Engage, participate, and vote in this year's primary and Election Day. Curious when your last day to register or vote is? Search for your state here.
