Six months...actually almost seven months since my last post. Actually 204 days to be exact. That is an awful long time to be away. A lot has happened in those days since I last made a public statement on our political culture. In a way, I sit here tonight thinking about the all the developments in the primary season, and the fact that we are less than a year away from a new president (HURRAY!) and try to put into perspective as to why I have stopped writing. After all , my mission has always been about bring a change in leadership in our government. With that objective clearly in reach (although clearly not through my doing), you would think my efforts would pick up, not disappear from the blogoshpere.
Some of the explanation lies firmly in the utter exhaustion I feel from all of the responsibilities I have as a husband, father of two little ones, friend, employee and supervisor to 16 people. Yep life is busy, and blogging is certainly my hobby, not my profession. But the "life happens" explanation is only part of the story. I still have a tremendous passion for progressive politics, but in a way, I felt my writing had become trite, and a little bit whiny. I certainly felt my points were valid, but I found no joy in making them anymore. George Bush got to be such a easy target, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. The new Demcratic leadership in Washington did little to inspire me, and really, everything seemed like business as usual. In short, I lost my muse.
So I am here to today to try to find my muse, and I believe I may have found my spark. In a way, I always felt that my purpose in life is to make a difference for somebody, anybody. Just one person at a time. I don't have to be famous, or a politician to do this. I just have to care and educate. In a way, I feel that I missed my calling in life as an educator. Don't get me wrong, I am really good at my career in finance, and I do fairly well in comparison to most people. But the biggest joys I get from my work is the time I spend developing the employees that work for me.
I look back at my life to date (no I am NOT having a midlife crisis) and I think of all the people that helped shape whom I am today my parents, my brothers, my friends, my family and my wife. I also think about those people that dedicated their lives to education and how they impacted me. People like Mrs. Haroldson (5th Grade), Mr Hegland (6th Grade), Mr. Bushroe (8th Grade), Mr DeVoss (HS Latin), Mr. Powers (HS Government), Mrs. Anderson (HS Geomotry), Jack Irwin (HS Counselor), Prof. Robert Peters (Undergrad Accounting) and Prof. Dominic Crossan (Undergrad Religion). They all provided me an education beyond their subject matter responsibilites. So in a way, I owe this to them.
The power of an educator making a difference is epitomized in the movie, Dead Poets Society. If you haven't seen the movie, do it. I will let the clip speak for itself.
Maybe someday I will have a chance to teach high school history as a second career later in life. In the meantime, I will let my writing scratch that itch. I am hoping that mission keeps me engaged in sharing with anyone who happens by this blog. The topic will no longer be limited to politics, although as you may imagine, it will be a significant part of my writing going forward. Thanks for reading.
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