The national election in the US is happening in 60 days. It’s no secret, we are a divided nation, and no one can be sure how this will all turn out. In fact, the presidential race is so close, uncertainty and fear may be the primary emotions of most citizens. This election cycle has already been full of loss. We have lived through the shock of a major candidate dropping out and being replaced, the anxiety and loss of the ability to view civil, mutually respectful political advertising and conversations. And most anxiety producing–the loss of the certainty we once had that, whoever loses will encourage and cooperate with the peaceful transfer of power. This is a principle of our democracy that had held throughout our history until the last election, and many of us are still in deep grief about that.
The candidates and their campaign invite us to work to get our candidate elected, to make a difference. After all, that is the essence of democracy. And if you happen to live as I do, in one of the states that will determine the election, it doesn’t seem like the right choice to sit this one out, despite the angst we might incur. I’ve rejoined the group of folks I’ve been with in previous elections since the 2008 election. We’ve known hope, and success, heartbreaking loss, and success again. Our group is headed by Denise, a professor of economics who tells me it’s been harder to recruit volunteers this year. I suggest we focus more on the gifts of getting to know our neighbors, neighborhoods and one another better. I’d like to think we are inviting people to come play with us, get together and trade stories, like a band or improv storytelling group. Denise admits that each election cycle gives her enough stories to last her the two years till the next election.
This better describes how people in my own life have approached volunteering for the body politic. My sister Pat and her husband had a great time campaigning successful in the 70s to get a trusted friend elected to the U.S. Congress from Michigan where he served for many years. My friend Rose Miele, a student of the organizer Sol Alinsky, knew how to find the fun in her campaigns to stand up for the rights of special needs children and of the handicapped. One year when she headed the Nebraska Commission on Women, she protected their funding by organizing a group of women to bake pies and place one on the desk of each legislator who would be voting on the bill. Each pie was accompanied with the message, “We’re not asking for the whole pie, just our own small part of it.” (The budgeted money survived to be challenged again another day.)
Phil Porter, a co-founder of InterPlay and my friend and co-author Christine Gautreaux have been teaching a storytelling class on zoom the first Monday of each month. The title is The Body Politic. They invite people to play with their fears and anxieties and their hopes and dreams. They look for consensus and note where the group members’ beliefs diverge. And particularly important, they look at “where we have the power to change things and where we don’t.” Consider joining the sessions. The last one will be on Dec 2nd , 2024, where they will be celebrating and grieving the outcomes of the 2024 election.
https://interplay.org/index.cfm/go/events:event/happening_id/3162/
