For awhile now I have felt the urge to be more vocal. Not to shy away from thoughts that refer to my faith or comment about current events that may lead to political debate. I believe I often let the fear of offending readers censor my blog posts.
The need to be heard and not feel silenced is very essential part of me. My biggest pet peeve is feeling like I am ignored, that I had something to say and the listener had better things to do than hear me. That my verbal feeling and thoughts where not important enough to remember.
Stifling this blog leaves me feeling only half heard.
It is important to me that I walk away from a situation and know I had a say - to know I was apart of it and not just subjected to it the outcome. win, loose or draw. I need to know I did my part, that I was informed, represented, and heard.
Over the past few years, and especially in the recent months, I have woke up morning after morning to news that has baffled, outraged, and appalled me. I told my mom at one point, "How is this happening, Why are we sitting here talking about it? Why are we not on the front White House lawn yelling at the top of our lungs?!". That was in reference the my bewilderment of just hearing on the radio that Obama had bailed out GM and the CEO was asked to resign.
It took me about a week to grappled with my own lack of involvement and apathy to the world around me. I had to accept the fact that I took my safe surroundings for granted. That I was so interested in keeping terrorist out the country that I didn't see the terror on the horizon right here at home. I had allowed my world view to shrink when we moved out of state years ago to finish college. Between putting Brad through school, pregnancy and a new baby, then moving home again and starting our careers - creating our family life - I had no energy or thought beyond surviving. We were focused on doing the best we could. We paid off tuition and car payments, budgeted and save money. As I did all of this I was in a haze, no longer connected to the events occurring in my country and my government. I had to accept that I assumed that others were watching and 'taking care' of the country.
Now I realize that my days of apathy need to be over. I am waking up everyday to a country I don't recognize and government that wants to take rather than serve. In recent months I began to take what I refer to as Initiative. It's more than reading articles and listening to radio, though being informed and challenged is good, it's looking for ways to be active - to speak - to find the tools to be heard and sharing them!
You may see more posts under the category MY VOICE on this blog because My Voice is ready to be heard. I will not spend another day watching things happen and wondering if my representative really thinks they represent ME. I will not let opportunities to show my support or my disapproval go by. I will not assume that someone out there is speaking my perspective, fighting my fight.
I will be Silent No More.