Walking my own talk

All right, just so you know: I am not all talk and no action. This evening I spent about half an hour making calls to drum up support for my chosen candidate in the caucuses on Tuesday. (I know half an hour isn't much, but it's way more than nothing, and there's always tomorrow. Besides, I needed to write this post!) This is one example of what I meant in a previous post about finding ways to get involved and finding volunteer opportunities that fit any virtually anyone's schedule. I got everything I needed online, and the calls were easy and quite fun. I spoke with a number of people who share my political views, and some of them even thanked me for using my own time to make those calls. It feels great to take action and to believe you helped make a difference, even in a tiny way. And if I can do that while sitting at home cooking dinner, so can you!

We each must figure out ways to walk our own talk, to put our beliefs into action instead of just endlessly yakking about problems. Constant whining about the problems of society without developing solutions is just an ongoing pity party. Coming up with solutions and not working to implement them is simply mental masturbation - we may feel smart but the problem remains. Gandhi was right - we must be the change we want to see in the world.

Caucus or primary in three days! I hope that everyone who is eligible will make a point to get out there and vote in the primary or participate in the caucus. Remember, if you don't vote you can't complain. Or at least you shouldn't.

Must make this post a short one, need to turn in an assignment for one of my Sociology classes. It's on a book I read a while ago called "Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes". It's a great read, particularly if you have kids. The ways that the marketers and the media attempt to influence kids in order to create lifelong consumers are appalling. This book focuses specifically on girls even though the authors admit that boys are also quite vulnerable to these influences, because "we believe that the particular identities offered to girls today through this marketing are more problematic because they offer so much less real power in exchange for pseud0-powerful activities." They go on to discuss the effect of gender-role stereotype reinforcement at an early (and easily influenced) age, the messages of powerlessness that are transmitted to young girls, and the goal of marketers and the media to mold young girls into loyal, lifetime customers. It's an awesome book and a really great read, worthy of your spare time.

Okay, so much for a short post. I suffer from an affliction which Stephen King aptly named "Literary Elephantitis", meaning when I write I go on, and on, and on... but on the plus side it's not a waste of space because I still have things to say! And my professors seem to enjoy my papers - if you want to see a professor's eyes light up, just tell them your paper is going to run long because you have far too much excellent information to cut.

"Well-behaved women rarely make history." - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (one of my all-time favorite quotes! It doesn't really fit this post but I like it, so it's in!)

Later,
AuntieM