Still here, six years on.

I don't always know what to write, but it seems important that I should. If nothing else it's a sort of practice. Hopefully it may keep my mind flexible, and help me organize my thoughts. It's also a way to express myself. I don't talk often to others, and my mind tends to overflow.

Even though I do not watch much television, I still try to keep up with the news. As we edge closer to election time, politics dominates our collective conversation even more than usual, with all the anger and rhetoric (both well constructed and not) that goes with it.

I tend to avoid these topics, though I do have some deeply held views. The topics, the conversations become far too heated and human nature being what it is, it becomes too difficult to separate our emotions from our arguments. Though to be fair, in some cases the views and arguments are primarily based on emotion, which is again, a very human sort of thing.

I wish we could take a step back, take a collective breath, and perhaps proceed with kindness and civility. Good people working together can accomplish a lot, though not without effort.

I say this as much to remind myself as anything else.

-cliff