The Significance of Empathy
Tonight is the United States Presidential Election outcome, and like many, I'm actually really anxious about it.
A few weeks ago, I eagerly made it home from work to throw on my pj's, pop open a bottle of Garrison Raspberry, and sat glued to the television set all night, hoping that my Canadian political party would at least gain some ground in this years election. They did, and like the rest of my parties' supporters, that relatively small percentage gain was a victory within itself. Tonight, I sit here awaiting for history to be made, because whether we look short term or long term, history will be (again) significantly altered with whatever candidate wins over America.
I'm not really ashamed to admit that this is the first election year that I've really paid attention to. Reason being - a) During previous elections I was in my teens (and no doubt, high school and university drama took precident at the time), and b) writing and producing Halifax Retro in the past few months has forced me to take in ungodly amounts of political and environmental information - both locally and globally. This isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's one of the main reasons why I wanted to start Haliax Retro in the first place - I didn't know enough about what was going on in the world around me. And like so many others, there's this general sense of yearning to know more about the environement, about government, about the stock markets, about living more sustainably, and wanting to understand why we should care about these things.
It's funny too, because as I'm saying this, there's this underlying doubting tickle in the back of my mind that wants to undermine my empathy for modern politics... "Things have always been obtuse - me caring doesn't change anything." I'm only human, so I'm not going to sit here and pretend that this thought hasn't crossed my mind a time or two. "Maybe it is better to be naieve - what am I going to change?"... "It's all out of my hands." I guess these questions are a natural part of the process of finding out why we should care - finding reasons to validate my role/part/concern. And these are the very same questions that have people throwing their garbage on the ground, not recycling, not following policy, etc - that feeling of insignificance.
Convenience, style, and temptations will always challenge every one of us to turn a blind eye to what is really going on around us - whether it's our health, our egos, the environment, etc. I guess my two cents on this self-conflict would be that it is that very belief of insignificance that got us here in the first place - our selfishness of not looking outside of ourselves. And even though your personal efforts will not save the world, your influence over others, your children, your participation in groups, will contribute to a difference. I mean, what else are you going to do? Know that we humans need to be more conscienscious, but not do anything yourself? It really does start with you, even though it can be hard to believe. It's hard to ignore once that realizations settles in.
Just a thought. Keep Bizzy!
A few weeks ago, I eagerly made it home from work to throw on my pj's, pop open a bottle of Garrison Raspberry, and sat glued to the television set all night, hoping that my Canadian political party would at least gain some ground in this years election. They did, and like the rest of my parties' supporters, that relatively small percentage gain was a victory within itself. Tonight, I sit here awaiting for history to be made, because whether we look short term or long term, history will be (again) significantly altered with whatever candidate wins over America.
I'm not really ashamed to admit that this is the first election year that I've really paid attention to. Reason being - a) During previous elections I was in my teens (and no doubt, high school and university drama took precident at the time), and b) writing and producing Halifax Retro in the past few months has forced me to take in ungodly amounts of political and environmental information - both locally and globally. This isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's one of the main reasons why I wanted to start Haliax Retro in the first place - I didn't know enough about what was going on in the world around me. And like so many others, there's this general sense of yearning to know more about the environement, about government, about the stock markets, about living more sustainably, and wanting to understand why we should care about these things.
It's funny too, because as I'm saying this, there's this underlying doubting tickle in the back of my mind that wants to undermine my empathy for modern politics... "Things have always been obtuse - me caring doesn't change anything." I'm only human, so I'm not going to sit here and pretend that this thought hasn't crossed my mind a time or two. "Maybe it is better to be naieve - what am I going to change?"... "It's all out of my hands." I guess these questions are a natural part of the process of finding out why we should care - finding reasons to validate my role/part/concern. And these are the very same questions that have people throwing their garbage on the ground, not recycling, not following policy, etc - that feeling of insignificance.
Convenience, style, and temptations will always challenge every one of us to turn a blind eye to what is really going on around us - whether it's our health, our egos, the environment, etc. I guess my two cents on this self-conflict would be that it is that very belief of insignificance that got us here in the first place - our selfishness of not looking outside of ourselves. And even though your personal efforts will not save the world, your influence over others, your children, your participation in groups, will contribute to a difference. I mean, what else are you going to do? Know that we humans need to be more conscienscious, but not do anything yourself? It really does start with you, even though it can be hard to believe. It's hard to ignore once that realizations settles in.
Just a thought. Keep Bizzy!
posted by MissBiz | 8:29 PM
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