Hi everyone,
I know we are all going through our own process trying to understand how to think and feel about voting, elections, and their outcomes. With that in mind, I’d like to share some reflections that I have titled:
What’s your vote?
Consulting James Baldwin and Toni Morrison in Times of Crisis
Voting is not a question of once every few years.
Voting is not an expression of a preference or a choice
that you take once and then leave it behind.
Voting is not choosing who should govern your life.
We should not vote to hand over our power, our agency,
our humanity, our responsibility to whoever gets elected.
Voting doesn’t mean making a cross on a paper
only to step back and wait for change.
Yet, that’s exactly what we do
when we think of voting as once every few years.
But what if we re-defined voting, drawing on the insights of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison?
Both writers challenge us to stay awake to our humanity, our responsibility, and the power of everyday actions, especially in times of despair and division. James Baldwin once said :
“There may not be as much humanity in the world as one would like to see. But there is some.”
He understood the frustration of living in a world that often feels devoid of kindness and justice. Yet, he also insisted on the need for love, describing it as “a passion of very few people” that holds the world together. In Baldwin’s view, this love is not passive but rather a conscious act of choosing who we are and who we refuse to become. He urges us to remember: “Everyone you’re looking at is also you. You could be that person, you could be that cop. And you have to decide in yourself not to be.”
In this spirit, we might think of voting not only as choosing representatives every few years but as a daily expression. Our everyday actions, our choices, and our thoughts and words all cast a “vote” for the kind of world we build.
Toni Morrison challenges us to see purpose in our existence, saying,
“I think we did [ask to be born], and that’s why we’re here.”
For Morrison, living well is an active pursuit, a nurturing of life that demands both intellectual and moral courage. She calls us to love, to care, to make one another feel seen and valued.
In light of Baldwin and Morrison, I believe that we have to vote on a daily basis to nurture and respect the lives we lead.
Voting is a daily act.
It is an orientation of the heart.
It is a position.
It is a principle.
So I say: Vote. Confirm your vote each day anew.
But never let the vote be the end of it.
Vote for the kind of life you cherish
And then elect yourself to act on behalf of the world you envision.
Take radical responsibility to govern your own life.
Stop wasting time placing blame on others.
Don’t find excuses in unfavorable circumstances or the elected government
Hold yourself accountable
to vote and to act on a daily basis for the world that you cherish.
As you vote each day
and as you elect yourself
to act upon your vote
you find power to change things
that you would not have seen
in macro structures and yet
each small action adds to the change
we hope to see.
So what’s your vote?
And have you elected yourself to live by it?
You don’t need to tell me.
Just hold that clarity in the confidentiality of your own heart
Our lives are revelatory of what we stand for.
Keep going ! 💛
Rose
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