I Voted for…

I’m not telling, but the most important part of the night is that I used my United States of American given right to publicly choose who I want to be in office for all of the positions that were on my ballot.

Some people don’t get this right, or they take it for granted, but ever since I was like 10 I have really been into political freedom and voting.

Of course I couldn’t vote legitimately for the first time until I was 18 and it was Obama’s second election, I remember being 11 or 12 in my home town of Connecticut and really wanting John Kerry to win against Bush.

By 8th grade, when Obama was running for the first time, my small town of Copenhagen, New York school was making a big deal about it being the first time a black man was running for president. They even brought in voting booths so the whole school could have a mock election.

I remember my friends all trying to get me to vote for one candidate, but I deeply wanted the other one to win, so I voted for who I felt was best.

Fast forward to 2012, Obama and Joe Biden were running for Obama’s second term against Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. I was still high school but had turned 18 in may, and the election was in November. That was the first year I was eligible to vote, and I knew exactly who I wanted to vote for.

In 2016 I wasn’t eligible to vote because I had moved too late in the election season and hadn’t got registered at my new address due to different issues I was having. So, I wasn’t able to vote that year, but I knew who I was hoping would win the election.

This was true even though I didn’t particularly care for either of the candidates on a personal level, and since 2012 haven’t, at least until this year.

In 2020, I was eligible to vote and did with pride for the candidates I felt was the lesser of 2 evils, and who was fighting to protect more of my rights and services, and those of my loved ones.

Now we come to today, the day of the 2024 elections between what was supposed to be a rematch between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump and  JD Vance (though trumps vp was Mike Pence last time).

Today, I was once again eligible to vote in the election, and I have just as much passion, anxiety, stress, excitement, pride, hope, and fear all mixed into one as I did 4 years ago, though now I feel all of that times 10 because of how much more divided and polarized the political climate has made the U.S. since 2016.

I am trying to remain hopeful despite all the major wars cropping up for different sections of our allies, the extreme protests on our own soil about a certain one of these wars, the domestic issues going on in our own backyard with our laws, loss of rights, and potential to lose more soon, and violence against opposing political candidates, but all of that paired with the pretty much civil war between my own neighbors, friends, and  family members over politics, and my already hectic life full of family drama and trauma, my own mental and physical illnesses and chronic conditions, preparing for grad school with the focus of social and public policy, and it being the holiday season, all have me pretty on edge.

Not to mention, it is the time of year I always get more sad than usual due to seasonal depression, and it being the month of my favorite person’s birth and death ( my bio mom’s dad (my grandpa and favorite family member in that family) died 2 days before his birthday which was the week of Thanksgiving, then we had his funeral either the day before or after Thanksgiving. I can’t exactly remember which because I was only 10.

So yeah, my normal amount of stress I usually have on any given day of the year is heightened, not only due to it being an election year, but because since 2016 every election year, and life in the United States in general has been so divided and polarized. But despite all of this, and despite the fact that i have certain issues with each candidate, I proudly and loudly voted tonight for the candidate that I feel closest aligns with my views, values, and who appears to be most activly fighting to protect, gain, or regain more of my rights, freedoms, and services keeping me and my family members healthy, safe, and alive as economically well off as possible.

On that note, I am so glad election season is pretty much over and I hope things can get back to less political ads, attacks, and protests, though I suspect there could be a bit more to come at least until after January.

I will still be here and on the fight4mylife socials providing as much hope, support, and links to resources as I can muster while going through my own struggles and while trying to fill my own cup, but I have yet to see how this month will affect me. I do, however, have so many resources, physical, mental, social, spiritual, and a strong support system to keep me grounded, distracted, healed/healing, entertained, connected, and whole.  I have hobbies and community memberships to keep me busy and happy.

I have a purpose, and I am leaning into that to keep me happy, healthy, safe, and sane. My purpose is with this blog, my impending school journey, and being a sorte of homemaker while my mom kicks ass at her new job she started this year, and keeping my brother safe and in line as he starts homeschool soon, and playing with, caring for, and training my family’s dog while running the fun blog I started for her that is from her point of view (obviously I can’t know what she’s thinking, but I just pretend and she is the focus of the blog).

In any case, I hope everyone reading this has been having a happy, healthy, safe, sane, enlightening, and free fall and holiday season, free from the stress that is common at this time of year. I hope you are able to find your purpose, that you are able to live your life aligned with that purpose, your values and morals.

I hope that you are all able to get all or at least most of your needs met in every category of need, physical, mental, spiritual, social, financial, and so on, and if you are in the U.S I hope you were able to exercise your right to vote today and that you get the outcome you were expecting.

I hope you are safe and not infringing on anyone else’s rights to safety no matter what the final results are, and I wish you all a good night.