Emotion regulation.

In one month, we'll vote.

Every time I sit down to blog these days, I feel torn between reporting the usual happenings or launching into my thoughts on this election. I discuss election thoughts with people who agree with me, and that might not be you. That makes me a little uncomfortable... But today, the election wins.

I cried when Obama accepted his nomination. I wondered if the quiet little hum of hope and pride that I felt that night was the same feeling that people had when JFK was around. I don't know, but I know I've never had that feeling tied to anything political before.

I cried during the VP debate last night. It just hit me, and I turned to Jonathan and I said, "I don't know what I'll do if McCain and Palin win this." And I guess, really, I do know what I'll do - what everyone will do - keep going. But it will hurt. It will hurt like it hurt after 9/11 when an opportunity for growth and connection was squandered and replaced with fear, hate, and war.

I don't claim to understand everything or read everything regarding this election, but I do believe a few things. I believe that the poor are disproportionately taxed and the rich can afford to give more, I believe that I'm fortunate and I should pay my share of taxes accordingly, that better government services necessarily require taxes and that's okay, that our education system needs to become a priority, and that war doesn't solve problems. What else, you ask? Well, abstinence-only sex education has repeatedly been shown to be fully ineffective, having a female vice-president does not guarantee that women's rights will be acknowledged or championed, and that we will never be respected as a nation if we refuse to talk to our supposed enimies and we attempt to impose democracy on everyone ("Heroes from the West/We don't you, but we know best!").

So there's my two cents.

I think I'll just get more emotional as Election Day approaches... anyone with me?

Please VOTE!