Even though it’s only 2023, it’s obviously election season again, which—in case you are new to the American cultural and political landscape—pointlessly takes up two out of every four years of media coverage and internet outrage.
This time around, I care less than ever about the presidential election. This will surely anger most people that I’m setting an irresponsible example here, but I’m just being honest: if it’s a lesser-of-two-evils election again, I probably won’t cast a vote for president.
I’m willing to throw away my vote—which I don’t take lightly, especially as a woman—because voting is supposed to center around being for something. It’s supposed to be about choosing something, hoping for something, pushing toward something. Voting for one embarrassment-of-a-candidate in an attempt to not let the other embarrassment-of-a-candidate win is too utilitarian for me. I want to use the power that I have as a citizen to, like, actually help our country be a better place.
Here are three ways where most of us can actually feel a lot of agency. Remembering these three things allow me to not even open the door for any anxiety about our nation’s leadership.
Local Government (and Nonprofits and Churches) Can Actually Be Great
In my city, I do feel like my voice matters. Obviously I know very little about what a city needs,1 but for the most part I trust the people in charge. I get our mayor’s emails every other week and see things in our city that he is getting done. I subscribe to a daily newsletter that updates me on what our city is working towards and includes info about discussion forums, vision-casting meetings, community events, and, of course, cool new parks and restaurants.
Renaissance is happening in my city. Our library system is providing increasingly more programs that serve the hungry kids in our community, for example. I’ve seen creeks cleaned up and greenways created to help give every Chattanoogan access to a park within a ten-minute walk.
Local churches and non-profits are doing good work, too, like creating a farming program or a tea house for men and women who could use a fresh start. My friend Mimi created an incredible safe space for survivors of sex trafficking, and they’ve been doing good work in the city for 18 years! It’s not hard to find someone who’s ready to share a powerful, redemptive story of a way that a small program made a life-saving impact.
We Vote Our Values Every Day
At a time when all the political options feel like a lose-lose, it’s empowering to know that we can use our time and money each day to vote for what’s important to us.
I’ve mentioned this song/poem by Son of Laughter several times because the concept has been so life-changing for me: “Every day is voting day.”
We vote for our neighbors when we shop and eat locally.
We vote for the arts when we attend events and visit museums.
We vote for community services when we thrift from non-profits.
We vote for our environment when we pick up trash when we’re on hikes.
We vote for people who are different than us when we hear their stories.
We vote for education when we show up for library events.
We vote for public health when we take care of our bodies and normalize home cooking for the next generations.
We vote for our farmers when we buy and enjoy their delicious products.
And we vote for our future world when we show children that we actually like them and believe in them.
I’ll bet you see a lot of your own values in that list. I think most of us want most of the same things. It’s often a cop-out when we worry about what our elected leaders are doing/aren’t doing and we fail to take agency for what we can do.2
It’s cool that we aren’t all alike, too. One of my friends is a naturalist and has gone to all kinds of horticulturalist trainings and Young Farmers meetings, and she is living an off-grid lifestyle I wouldn’t personally choose because she wants to try to heal the land in her little corner of America.
I’m so glad people with her interests and passions exist and that there are people paying attention to crises that not all of us are suited to think about or pursue. She and I cast some different votes with our time and dollars, but that’s the beautiful thing about America. We can—and should—focus on different things, but that doesn’t mean that half our citizens have to end up as losers. We can cheer each other on while we play to our own strengths.
Maybe we’re limited by partisan politics, but there are other ways we can vote with our life choices…every single day.
Grateful People Are Powerful People
I think one of the most powerful people alive during World War II was Corrie Ten Boom. She was stripped of her clothes, her hair, her name, and every human dignity her torturers could think of…but she was still free. Free to thrive, free to be thankful, free to love and serve. She was even free to love her enemies. Imagine how frustrating that must’ve been for her torturers, to see that they were not actually able to crush their prisoner’s spirit and that she was, in fact, still so emotionally strong that she could forgive them.
My friend Sarah recently left a comment reminding us that “Happiness is an inside job.” Yes yes yes. I usually fight for my circumstances to change a lot harder than I fight for my own happiness.3 Forcing a change in circumstances rarely even pans out, yet my own happiness is pretty much always available.4
Anyway. I hope this encourages you. It feels amazing to wake up to news of a narcissist-cess-pool debate or a presidential mug shot and be like, “Lol, ok, I’ve got other things to think about though.” We’ve got more agency than we think.
Love,
Hope
P.S. Hope’s Notes will probably be intermittent for a minute because there’s another little writing project I want to try. Love you guys. See you in the fall! Here are some photos from the past week.
And, finally, if you read this week’s Family Scripts post, you know what this is about 🤪
Love you all!
However, I’ve read two great (and very different) books about meeting a community’s needs and recommend both: Walkable City by Jeff Speck and Becoming Whole by Brian Fikkert
Functionally, I seem to value a lot of other things! Where my time and money goes seems to paint a different picture than “voting” for all those good things all the time. I’m writing this while snacking on butter-flavored Aldi pretzel sticks and thinking about how much time I spent bingeing Between Two Ferns videos yesterday. It happens. Showing grace—including to myself—is also one of my values.
When I say “fight for my own happiness” I mean “figure out how to be happy in Jesus.” If I believe I have the King of the universe and Savior of the world as my personal advocate and friend—which I do believe—I’ve got it made. The tricky part is that it doesn’t always feel like I’ve got it made (which is where the need for faith comes in.)
The missionary St. Paul was chained up in a first-century prison when he wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) What freedom to be able to be spilling over with gratitude and joy in a circumstance like that.
Apple cider donuts from the Apple Barn are *chef’s kiss*
This really hit home…
"Happiness is an inside job." Yes yes yes. I usually fight for my circumstances to change a lot harder than fight for my own happiness.3. Forcing a change in circumstances rarely even pans out, yet my own happiness is pretty much always available.
Great reflection on how we all can look at voting day everyday!