As for the politics bit..I care enough to do things on a local level (city and state) and I feel good about the various emails and letters I write to those elected officials, but I do also have the feeling that its somewhat of a waste of time. I’m sure part of that sentiment comes from the documentaries and books I’ve read lately…leaders I thought were the greatest were…not so great. So its been a bit of a let down. I watched the documentary “A Century of Self” recently and it really affected me deeply - it showed how the masses are constantly being manipulated (if that’s the right way to put it). So its made me rather bitter.

I think we all respond to different things based on our own experience. I love politics. How many times have I been disappointed by politicians? Countless. Yet I am still hopeful and I still care. Call me stupid.

I care about environment more though. I care about it to the point of judging other people who don’t care. Bad, yes. I can’t help it.

Last Christmas, one of my friends was upset because she missed the “toys for tods” event. I kept the thought to myself: “the world is falling apart for the future generation, and you care about a poor kid missing a toy for Christmas?” But perhaps that was how she parsed the world by responding to very concrete things, e.g., a real child gets a real toy.

Today, we had 100 degree temperature. But a couple of young people showed up at my door asking for my support for Clean Water Action. They were soaking wet, but they beamed with such optimism that put me in shame.

I am rambling. I guess my point is that people have different priorities because of their experience and their DNA. Unfortunately we can’t control how other people feel. We can’t even control how we feel (there are so many causes that I know are important but still can feel the drive to care).

Chin up and do what we have to do, one day at a time