My head hurts. Not
the kind of hurt you get from a neighbor banging away on a drum set or the kind
of hurt from a stabbing migraine behind your left eye. No, this headache is entirely different. It’s been brought on by the multitude of
information flowing freely from the Internet and people’s mouths. It’s a headache that can only be brought on
by too much information overloading the senses.
What am I talking about?
What the rest of the world is talking about non-stop. The election … what else? This election cycle is truly a sight to
behold. In my thirty-nine years I don’t
think any other election has elicited so much controversy, fear, or the
constant barrage of information (or misinformation as it should be
classified). It’s mind-numbing, mind-blowing,
and headache-inducing.
An introvert that’s been exposed to too much information, I
tend to shut down and not want to be part of the conversation anymore because I
feel utterly helpless or defeated in my thoughts. It’s too much to try to take in at one time
because I have to sort through and analyze every piece of information to help
me form a cohesive thought and to land on the ability to voice what I think. I’ve even spent time thinking about how I
would share how I’m feeling in a blog post because I think it warrants being
said, but not the detriment that it falls on deaf ears or doesn’t actually do
any good because I’m pro-something that you are not and then a major fight
ensues over our differing beliefs. At
that point it becomes a waste of my time and yours.
So here goes. To all
my friends of voting age that will be voting in the fall, I want you to do
something. I want you to stop listening
to other people and ignore all the stuff written by and reported on our
candidates and actually do your own research to help you form your own true
opinion. Go to their individual websites
and read what each candidate says they stand for in their own words. If you
can, see them speak in person and listen, really listen, to what they say and
how they answer each question posed.
Watch them speak on television and hear what they say they stand for and
what they say they will do. Write it all
down to go over later if you have to.
Don’t listen to media outlets or third-party conspiracy theory websites,
or even the other candidate’s views and thoughts on their opponent(s). What matters is what comes from your
candidate(s) directly.
You might be wondering why I’m asking this of you or why I
even care. I care because for our own
sanity, we have to stop the cycle of disjointed facts, misinformation, and
barrage of things that don’t matter. When
we all can form our own opinions based on information that is coming directly
from our candidates’ mouths can we then stand up and say that we’ve done the
homework and do feel confident in our voting choices. Don’t be part of the problem of sharing
around misinformation or taking part in idle gossip. Be a part of the solution and base your
choice on what you see and hear coming from the candidates themselves. When someone asks you if you feel like you
have a strong enough candidate for whatever position they’re running for, you
can then feel confident with your answer and
you can actually explain “the why.”
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