What Unplugging Did For Me!

On September 21st, I celebrated two months free from politics. I didn’t avoid the news, but I didn't talk or write about the the controversies emanating from Richmond or Washington.

This was hard. My blog and several of the platforms that publish my work are very political. I've written hundreds of articles, blogposts and editorials about politics. None of them prepared me for the daily grind of covering this administration.

Writing about politics has become exhausting: not because of the constant scandals or the amount of time it takes to properly research a story, but because of the polarization. We are so fractured that telling the truth is often perceived as being divisive. I was tired of defending facts and basic standards of decency from people who spent the last few decades lecturing the rest of us about morality.

There is very little, if any, space between our politics and identities. Any critique of an idea, politician or political party is too often viewed as an attack on everyone who supports a particular ideology or party. This is unfortunate. We are far to complex to have the totality of our being subsumed under such narrow categories.

I convinced myself I could challenge people who thought differently than me to see the world through my eyes. After a lot of reflection I was forced to admit that my efforts were more harmful than helpful. I wasted a lot of time and energy trying to reach people who didn't want to be reached.

So, I stopped. I took a break. I removed myself from the equation. This allowed me to spend more time with my family and friends, but more importantly: I used my time and creative energy to focus on the beauty around me. I started taking pictures; pictures of family, friends, nature anything that caught my attention.

I will always speak and write my truth. I will never stop questioning the status quo. I will continue to passionately engage the world around me. Unplugging forced me to get my nose out of books, my eyes off of monitors and my hands off of keyboards. I forced myself to look at the world. I didn’t just smell the roses I stopped long enough to admire their beauty.