To vote or not to vote: what a stupid question

If you didn't know that today's election day, you must have been living under a rock for the last year and a half. You must not have watched TV, or listened to the radio, or socialized in any way with anyone from the United States. If that's the case, congratulations on becoming such an effective hermit. The rest of you, listen up. Go vote!

I'm concerned with the attitude about voting, especially at school. So many people I've spoken to say they aren't voting. Their excuse? They don't "do" politics.

I'm not quite sure they get the picture. See, the man they vote for has the power to CHANGE THE WORLD. No exaggeration needed.

But hey, maybe the responsibility speech doesn't work on them. I could do the "you owe it to your country to vote" speech. You know, the one that talks about how hard it was for our forefathers to gain independence. How later women, other races, and eventually young adults fought for this privilege.

 

Or I could talk to them about how their ancestors left everything they knew in their respective countries and came to America hoping for a better life. In this great land, they had the right to vote. Here, we vote for national, state, and local government. WE have a say in that. Do they have any right to scoff at what our predecessors changed their entire lives to obtain?

Chances are, you've heard those speeches before. And if you don't want to vote, I certainly can't change your mind. So, I'll merely tell you what it means to me. I think voting is important! As insignificant as I am, I get to give my opinion and be heard. I get to tell my country what I think.

I'm sure many people believe it doesn't matter if they vote because one person's vote won't change anything. Being from a small-town city in Utah, I know exactly how they feel. Utah will always vote Republican. Surprise! Not. But really, so what? Who cares if your vote doesn't change the world? There are more important reasons to do it. I show myself that I care. I show my community that I care. And I become part of something much bigger than myself. I change from a citizen of the United States of America in name only to an active, participating member. You got that? I am important. Even if I'm the only one who thinks so, I value my vote.

So today, go vote. Please. It doesn't matter if you don't know all the people who are running for every office. If you really care, a quick Google search will help you. If you don't, you're always free to leave that part of the ballot blank. Or choose the name that sounds the most interesting or down-to-earth (guilty).

Go. Vote. Get a cool sticker. Support your country. And be proud of the heritage you get to uphold.

I'm not five anymore

Sometimes you have to be grateful your dreams don't work out.

When I was little, it was my life's ambition to become an Indian (yeah yeah, politically correct Native American). Not in the modern sense of the word; I wanted to be the type that existed before Columbus ever made it to the Americas. I must've watched Pocahontas a billion times. I knew all the songs by heart and sang them. Constantly. My mom bought me moccasins and I practiced walking quietly. It's a wonder my family didn't kick me outside for a night to give me a reality check.

My next dream was a storyteller. Late at night, in the room my sister and I shared, I would tell stories. They were usually love stories (thank you, Disney brainwashing), but there was the occasional horror or tragedy. This lasted until I realized I had no more good ideas. At that age, I figured my talent was gone forever and gave up on the idea. It wasn't until later that I realized all my plotlines were taken from stories I had heard others tell. Unintentional verbal plagerism, I promise.

My parents used to tell me I'd make a great lawyer. I could debate my way out of almost any punishment. When my parents were disciplining one of my siblings, I'd jump in the conversation and explain how Sibling A was actually responding to Sibling B, or how Sibling A was a victim of circumstance. My siblings enjoyed it; my parents weren't as amused. If it was this easy to win cases, I thought, being a lawyer should be easy! Then I found out they had to do much more than argue. They had to be informed about laws and previous cases. They had to go to college, then grad school. And worst of all, they didn't always win. That career path went out the window. Let's be honest. I just wanted to argue, and I had a brother for that. Who needed to get a degree when my archnemesis was already available?

I then turned to my dream of being a wife and mother. I was in high school, and figured I'd go to BYU, get married, graduate with a 4.0 and have kids. That was my simplistic plan. As of yet, only the going to BYU part has worked out. The rest, well, there's still time. Except for the GPA thing. That's toast.

Coming to BYU gave me some perspective. I realized that there were tons of things I could do now that would be more difficult, though not impossible, once I was married. Like having an internship in New York. Or having the ability to change my major and take some useless classes just for fun. Or to spend Halloween writing (and procrastinating) a political science paper. Not that this is my dream Halloween activity, I'm just saying this would be more difficult if I had other responsibilities too. What would I ever do if procrastination wasn't an option! I'm just not ready for this dream yet. I haven't grown into it.

Moral of the story: most of the things I wanted would have made me miserable. I mean, do I look like the type who would happily eat deer meat for a living? I don't even like steak. Five-year-old dreams change, because I change. And thank goodness for that!

Little Things

Isn't it interesting how little things can make your day? Like today, when the wind was blowing my hair so much I felt like Medusa.

Or when that cute guy smiled at me as he was walking down the sidewalk (ask me out, dangit!). Or the random girl who complimented my boots.

Sometimes, I just need the little things to remind me that life is still good. That I don't need a huge, momentous occasion to smile. Life is still worth living!

I just need a small bit of happiness.

Plus, I think I look pretty cute with my hair blowing in the wind. Don't correct me if I'm wrong. :-)

A Day of Firsts

You know that feeling you get when you do something new? That idea of, "oh, this is completely new I hope it's fun" kind of thing? I got to do that a lot yesterday.

1. New restaurant! I went with some friends to Mimi's Cafe. First off, who knew quesadillas could be so small? The bowl of coleslaw they gave me was bigger (and who eats that stuff by the bowl anyway?). Still. Good food, good friends.

2. I watched a Bollywood film. I want to learn to sing like that someday. Also, I learned that these movies just keep going. There are misunderstandings, sword fights, people dying and jealous nursemaids. The girl finally went back to the guy (long story) and everybody dances and sings and the guy is hailed as the best emperor. And those of us watching stretch and say, wasn't that good? And then the emperor gets shot with an arrow and we realize, hey, it isn't over yet. Whoops. So we continue. Somebody dies and conflict is resolved and the guy and the girl have a touching love scene that lasts about ten minutes when two would have been fine and that has to be the end, right? The screen blacks out, we sigh . . . and then it shows a scene of conspirators who are going to go after the throne. Seriously. This is just like a soap opera. Not that I've ever watched one, but I imagine this compares. So there's a battle and somebody else dies and the emperor -get this- forgives the rebel and then, only then, is it over. Was I puzzled? Yes. Will I watch another one? Most likely.

3. I started a blog. In case you didn't notice. This is going to be an interesting experience. I don't really know what I want to do with it yet. Make someone smile, maybe. Get my ideas out on this crazy thing called the internet. Promote world peace (Miss Congeniality, anyone?). I can only hope I don't make too much of a fool out of myself. Wish me luck!