Page 2 - Sonoma County Gazette November 2018

Dear Readers
There are times when the political climate gets so hot I want to stick my head in the sand and wait until it changes - which it always does. As I say to every person in stress - This Too Shall Pass...Nothing Ever Stays the Same.
Voting gets us into messes and voting can get us out of messes. We vote for Propositions, Measures, Bonds and PEOPLE. As mechanics and engineers will tell you, THINGS can be FIXED...people are another thing entirely. There are as many situations that can go wrong, and right, as there are people.
People can manipulate others’ perceptions of reality. One of the things we try to teach our children is to trust your intuition. When your gut says something different from what a person it telling you, trust your gut. If it feels wrong - it is wrong - for you.
We can get feelings about candidates for office that sway us one way or another. If we have fact-checked we feel more confident in trusting our feelings when marking that box on the ballot. That takes time but it’s an important part of voting. Check the facts. There are non-partisan websites to help.
When the outside world gets too frightening, I turn my face toward home. If we can maintain HOME in the midst of world turmoil, we have sanctuary that feels safe for us. Our home can ride the waves of world storms if we take care of it. Like riding through a crisis, the better we take care of ourselves, the stronger we are coming out of the crisis.
Voting at home is just as important as voting in the big elections. Who are these people who want to serve us. Do their agendas match our agendas? What can we do to make SURE what we want is accomplished?
Volunteer. Share your life with people who respect you and whom you respect them. Put time and energy into a common cause, not just your own cause and life. Find like-minded people & work together as a team.
AND, of course, support your local economy by supporting your neighbors in business. This is our home and it needs maintenance just like washing dishes and doing laundry.
2 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/18