Voter Apathy: A Sign of the Need for Change

I know I've brought up the health benefits of voting before (see previous blog post A Vote for Good Health), but a federal election is coming up in Canada and I'm saddened by what I'm observing.

I see one group of people who are desperately trying to get people to vote against a particular party to the point where they almost don't care who you vote for otherwise. Others are devoted to a single political party and will vote for that party no matter what has happened in the party or with the leader. Some people take the time to research current events and make an informed decision election by election.

But even with all these types of voters and more, what I see the most lately is apathy for this election. Looking at the 2000 Canadian general election, statistics show that most people who did not vote didn't like the choices of parties/candidates, had a sense that their vote wouldn't matter, or didn't care about the issues.^[1] I might even go to say that there is a distinct lack of hope in Canadian voters and it's gotten worse over the past few years. I really think people feel that it doesn't really matter who they vote for, nothing will change anyway. Isn't it funny that here in a supposed democracy, people feel like they have no power? If we were living under a dictator, we might be rising up for our rights but because we still have some perceived freedoms we throw up our hands and say that the loss of our democratic rights, erosion of our health care system, slow deterioration of our beautiful environment and many other things are simply out of our control. My heart breaks just thinking about it all.

ANY political party that tells you that this is not the time for change is lying. The lack of hope and power of the individual Canadian is a clear sign that change is needed and as soon as possible. What can you do? Well, at the very least, if you are Canadian or when it comes time for your own country's elections, please vote. If you don't like the leaders, vote based on the candidates in your own riding. If you want to do more, start speaking up for voting system reform. Educate yourself about voting system reform and the different options. Write to your representative and ask for change.

If you think that the issues in this election don't matter to you, then you have missed something because this election affects all Canadians. Please vote!

If you are looking for more information on voting...
Elections Canada
Election Almanac
Fair Vote Canada
Rick Mercer's Rant on Youth Vote
Join a Vote Mob

[1] Rhonda Parkinson. Voter Turnout in Canada, 2007. Accessed April 18, 2011 from http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/voter-turnout-canada

Image: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Cheaters Never Prosper

From a spiritual point of view, I believe the old saying is true: "cheaters never prosper." However, spiritual consequences are not necessarily obvious to most of us and we instead see so many people "getting away" with cheating.

While adultery is a form of cheating, the type cheating I am focusing on here involves violating rules dishonestly.^[1] This issue came to me as I was watching Dr. Phil a while ago (don't judge, I'm fascinated by mental/emotional issues) and he was talking to a woman who had cheated to win a competition. As he talked to various guests who had cheated on this or that, they all believed that they were in the right to cheat. I was a little horrified! I couldn't believe how many people would do whatever they could to get ahead.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like I haven't witnessed cheating in university and college, or cheating in games and sports. As a bit of an optimist, I guess that I always hoped that people knew that cheating was bad but were under enough pressure to make bad decisions. To hear people say that they had no problem with cheating if it got them what they wanted just broke my heart.

I think that most people would agree that honesty is a key part of spirituality. You might be able to knit-pick at the definition of honesty and argue over white lies and such, but I can't see how you would explain cheating as anything but a choice to be dishonest.

Is it any wonder that society has so many problems when there are so many who do not care about the consequences of dishonesty? Would people make different choices if they could see, hear and feel what happens as a result of their choices? I wonder what I can do to change this trend, and the only thing I can come up with is that I should succeed in my life without cheating and try to teach my daughter what I think the consequences of cheating are.

How do you feel about cheating?

[1] Merriam-Webster, s.v. "Cheating," http://www.merriam-webster.com/ (accessed January 11, 2011).

Blessings of Christmas

It is Christmas time again! I have four days of planned celebrations covering 5 different locations with 11 (if not more) individual family units. It's going to be crazy busy - and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it! There are always some downsides to this time of year including some financial pressure and the stress of making sure that you get everything done and see everyone; but to me, it's all worth the fun and companionship that comes with the holidays.

First of all, there's the presents. It doesn't take much to make me happy in the present department - a really good stocking full of goodies and 1 or 2 things I need as presents and I'm set! I had as much fun making presents this year as I am going to have opening mine. All I have left to do is wrap my gifts to others later today and I'll be all ready for the big event. I'm looking forward to watching my 2 year-old daughter open all of her gifts.

And then there's the food. From fondues parmesan, to perogies, to turkey and stuffing, to mashed potatoes, to green olives and Christmas baking, it's all so delicious. I just finished making my homemade cranberry sauce. I think my favourite is the stuffing - I can't seem to get enough of it! As an extra bonus, I don't have to cook all of Christmas dinner this year - just cranberry sauce and some baking.

Most important of all, there's the friends and family. I get to see friends that I have barely seen all year. Sometimes people come back from out of town and you get little mini-reunions of friends. And I get to see lots of different family members - some people may think that sounds horrible, but I am more than happy with it!

While Christmas may not be the best time of the year for my physical health (I won't be eating the healthiest food, and I'll take far too much of it), I get a real boost to my emotional and social health!

So, here's hoping that you have as many Christmas blessings as I do! Happy Holidays!

Friendship After Children

I've been thinking about friendship recently. Now I'm not the kind of person who has ever been able to make friends easily. But as hard as it was in the past, friendship has gotten even harder since I've had a child.

Now it didn't surprise me that it would be harder to stay close to my friends who aren't married or don't have children of their own. I've heard all the stories and it just makes sense that the lifestyle of a parent is usually drastically different than that of a child-less person. That can strain friendships if there isn't some amount of understanding and work to keep the friendship evolving. And some parents change their lives more than others. I'm on the major change side of the spectrum.

But it never occurred to me how hard it might be to stay friends with other parents or make new parent friends. There have been so many obstacles to me, I almost don't know where to start! I guess one of the biggest things that has made it harder for me to make mom-friends is my choice of parenting style. Other mothers have told me that they have found good friendships in their first mom's group. I found that my parenting style was so different than the styles of the other mothers that I found it difficult to join in on the conversations.

Even if you find a mother (or group of mothers) with similar parenting style, there are other obstacles to friendship when you have a young child. If your children are on different schedules (or maybe still on no schedule at all) it can be near impossible to find a good time to get together. And any mothers out there know that a plan with a baby involved is almost no plan at all. Inconsistent sleep, illness, teething, crabbiness and any number of other issues can cause you to have to re-schedule.

When you finally get together with a friend, any conversation is constantly interrupted with a child needing feeding, changing, cuddling or some other sort of attention. When I would meet a friend at the park, I was so busy chasing my daughter and making sure she wasn't falling off the equipment that I could barely find 10 minutes to talk to my friend. The short time you do get to talk to your friends end up being talk about children since that is what your attention has been on almost exclusively for so long. It can be hard to have a real, meaningful conversation about anything else.

Then after a while, some mothers go back to work, meaning that you can only see them outside of work hours. That's usually the same time that your husband finally comes home from work. Now as a strong introvert, I often use the little "off" time I get to be alone (maybe write a blog entry or something). Then I also have to consider spending time with my husband and daughter together as a family. I also have to take this time to work on my business or hobbies. Then there's the extra housework that isn't easily done with a child running around. After all that, I might have the slightest bit of time to spend with my working friends (whether they are parents or not).

So what's my point? Obviously, it can be hard for some parents to keep or make strong friendships after having children. Non-parents, please be understanding of your parent friends - parenthood can really be all-consuming. Parents, please be gentle with yourselves and your other parent friends. Remember that friendship is an important part of your social health (and by extension, your overall health). You may have to be creative and do a little work in keeping your friendships active or find new friendships. Be honest with your friends and keep communication lines open.

Moms, how do you make new friends or keep old ones? What problems have you found in friendship after children?

A Vote for Good Health

The time is upon us. On Monday, October 18, 2010 (that's in less than 2 weeks!), it's time for municipal elections across Alberta. I know, I know... It's not the most interesting thing in the world, and who really has time to care? Well, there are dozens of reasons not to vote, but I'd like to talk about some of the reasons on the plus-side of voting.

There are overall mental and physical health benefits associated with voting.^[1] These benefits often come from the sense of self-empowerment that comes with voting.^[1] So I guess that if you think that voting is useless and you just go vote because someone tells you to, that's not particularly helpful. But if you think voting is useless or haven't thought about it much at all, you are in charge of your own thoughts and you have the choice to change your mind.

I find that the process of researching who to vote for, as long and tedious as it can be, often brings me a feeling of connection with the community. I start to understand what those around me may be experiencing and I start to get the feeling that things need to change and that voting may help that happen. Thinking that your single vote doesn't change anything is counter-productive; each vote adds to the total and if no one with "regular" lives votes, that leaves only the fanatics to decide elections for you.

A note on municipal elections... I find it interesting that so many people claim that voting doesn't make a difference but that more people show up and vote in federal and provincial elections than in municipal elections where the issues more directly affect each and every citizen's everyday lives. The turnout for the 2007 Edmonton municipal election was just over 27%! The difference between one mayor and another could mean short-term differences in taxes and construction of infrastructure (such as my favourite LRT).

CTV has a very good site to help you with research on your local candidates (for Edmonton). Please be a good citizen of your community and a good example for others... Please vote!

[1] Voting Counts as a Healthy Habit. WebMD. Retrieved October 6, 2010 from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/voting-counts-as-healthy-habit

Blogging: A Hole in My Blanket of Diplomacy

I'm really excited about blogging and really terrified! I enjoy writing and I'm looking forward to seeing where this experience takes me. On the other hand, this blogging is going to challenge me in at least two areas. For one, my perfectionism is going to have to suffer at least a little bit as I'm sure to make a mistake here or there. I don't exactly have hours of research and editing time to devote to every post and I'm only human. But what I really want to talk about is my sense of diplomacy.

Are you a diplomat? I mean, really think about it. If two different people from two completely different areas of your life both ask you the same question about a controversial topic, how different are the two answers you give? For that matter, how different are those answers to what you think to yourself? I've called this diplomacy but perhaps the most psychologically correct term is self-censorship.

Now, I think self-censorship obviously has its place. But when do we go to far? Maybe when we are hiding who we really are for the sake of avoiding disagreement with others. I don't know about you but I've certainly done my share of smiling and nodding. And that's what has me scared here. I'm not writing one version of my blog for one person and a different version for someone else. I'm picking my topics, and with a certain amount of self-censorship most likely included, I'm writing what I think about it. And so begins a big hole in my blanket of diplomacy.

So if you're ready to hear what I think, read on... And tell me, how much do you self-censor and is that okay with you?