The Politics of Color by Elizabeth Ruediger (Guest Blogger)

The politics of color. Sure, the first thing that comes to mind is black and white referencing our nation’s great racial divide, or maybe even blue and red by party affiliation . But what about pink and green? I’m talking about the women and the vets.

There is a wave sweeping across the land and it is not the color of deep sea glass. It is the rising tide of women who are standing up and stepping into politics in numbers: the pink tsunami.

If there is anything the current presidential administration and congressional seat warmers have ushered in is a counter insurgency into the historic oppression of a woman’s ability to be successfully elected and represent a constituency that is equal, if not greater than, the number of men in our general population.

Future female leaders are fearlessly making their mark in the political world from the first Black woman to win a gubernatorial primary in Georgia to the first openly gay Latina candidate taking a primary win in Texas. Congratulations to Stacey Abrams, Lupe Valdez, Lizzie Fletcher, and Amy McGrath who were forces to be reckoned with in deep, red states, hence the only “deep states” in existence.

Women who were once men are taking a transgender perspective to the ballot box like never before. In an interview with Boston.com, Vermont gubernatorial hopeful Christine Hallquist is setting her eye on the prize in Montpelier. “Having lived as both a man as a woman gives her a different perspective,” Hallquist said, “I have a unique experience with women’s issues,” Hallquist said. “As a male I was not aware, unfortunately, of the gender hierarchy.”

According to an article published in The Christian Science Monitor, “An estimated 40 transgender candidates plan to run for office in the upcoming midterm elections, signaling a tidal shift in LGBT representation in government. Many candidates cite what they see as anti-LGBT policies from the White House as motivation to run.”

Alexandria Chandler of Massachusetts and Chelsea Manning of Maryland cross this deep divide from two fronts. They are not only transgender, but former military officers. In her interview with the CSM, Chandler stated, “The real simplistic answer to why I'm running: It's to answer a call. It's to a answer a call to service like I did after 9/11.” In reality, gay representation in elected positions has been on the uptick for several years, however, transgender status in state houses and in congress was a dramatic political revelation, if not revolution, in 2017 with 8 seats filled. Chelsea Manning, as you may recall, was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment for violation of the Espionage Act by providing WikiLeaks with thousands of classified documents, only to have her sentence commuted to seven years by President Obama. Manning may or may not be your flavor of candidate, but it takes rocks to run a political campaign, especially when your rocks are now a pretty, heart shaped box.

But at the ballot box, does the absent enthusiasm of male dominance matter? Not when you have the likes of Pennsylvania’s newest congressman, Conor Lamb, congressional candidate, Randy Bryce of Wisconsin, and gubernatorial candidate, Adam Cote of Maine. “I’ve seen Adam three times during trips to Iraq and Afghanistan and I will say this, if you are looking for somebody who is a born leader, this is your guy. I’ve seen him literally in action and I think that he is more than cut out for this kind of job… If the Democrats are smart and if they want to win a race, this might just be the way they want to lean.” - Bill Nemitz, Portland Press Herald columnist.

These men of honor have served their nation in a military capacity and now seek to serve in a political capacity. This transfer of military power from the battlefield to the political playing field is unprecedented in the most unpresidential term of our nation’s history. They have proven themselves as veterans and as Americans, both men and women, and will commit themselves to this nation’s future, as leaders we have already vested in, can bring their experiences to the political arena and score a knockout punch to the status quo with new perspective and vibrant hues for our future. Everyone wants change, here is hope.

It’s a brave new world.

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Elizabeth Ruediger is a self-described “force to be reckoned with," independent, political junkie, former elected official and uber fresh blog writer.

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This blog post was curated and/or edited by The Ardent Reader, Esther Hofknecht Curtis, BSOL, MSM-HCA. The views expressed in this blog post are those of the guest blogger. Visit Esther's page at www.parrotcontent.com for more information.

Letting Go by Daniel Marelli, MD (Guest Blogger)

Yoga practice helps me to let go of things that restrict me. Thoughts drift in and out of my mind freely. We speak of forgiving ourselves for mistakes or flaws that we are working on. Sometimes we explore our afflictions, together as a group without necessarily sharing specifics. We lift off into Warrior III and discover that by letting go of one position we gain new perspective.

The physical sensations remind me to stay in the moment and focus on my body. Some of the forms such as Pigeon, involve a slight discomfort. This enables courage and self-confidence while strengthening self-compassion. The discomfort is adjustable. It helps me build resilience in my everyday life.

Today we are children of freedom

This is the bread of our affliction

Let all those who are hungry come celebrate with us

As far as I can remember into my childhood, these words initiate the new spring season for my family. We tell the story of how our ancestors became free of servitude and gained their identity. We say that each generation must feel this transition. This has not changed for centuries.

One of the most difficult afflictions to let go of is the mindset of victimhood when a set of circumstances or a person has altered our journey or done us wrong. I became aware of this recently reading a book titled Advice not Given by Mark Epstein. A past trauma cannot always be erased. Rather than forcefully trying to delete a previous affliction, we could try to relate to it differently.

This recalled two personal events after which I had to find a way to let go.

The first occurred in my early teen years when my father died. I felt shame at school, always hoping to keep it a secret. Over the next decade I had dreams that he went off on a secret mission in the cold war and was returning. The dreams eventually formed an image in which he was out of place. The scar faded.

Today I speak freely of my father to my children. I try to inspire them with his love for all things art and architecture. We have some of his paintings on our walls. I have come to appreciate the personal and physical attributes he passed on to me. Most of all, I am grateful for the time I had with him.

The second event occurred more recently. I left my first professional job in Los Angeles in 2002. I knew it had been a bad situation for me, but I was stuck in the mindset of ‘quitters never win and winners never quit.’ I had an essential role within the team, and I was uniquely good at it. I was unable to let go because I had not yet defined the toxic environment. Was this essential? Not really, but for me it was. I felt like I had not done my best to make it work. Over the next couple of years, at every national meeting, my colleagues were all advising me that I belonged there.

Then in 2006 I went back to Los Angeles; to my old position. It was new management with the promise that all would be different. Of course, nothing had really changed, except me. Very quickly I resumed leadership of my former crew, but it was not the role I wanted. I realized that I had grown beyond the setting I was in. I started to understand that previously, my superiors had never been concerned with my development.

I now had a different perspective which unmasked all the imperfections that I had not seen in the past. I had never imagined this could be possible. After about six months I began to look for a new position. I became depressed. The traveling, explaining my difficulty at every interview, and my feeling of failure all weighed me down.

During an airport layover, I purchased a self-help book. I saved it for my office shelf. Thankfully, about a year later I relocated to Dover and resumed my journey.

I picked the book off my office shelf a few months ago. In it, I found the note pictured below …

To Daniel, 

Fire back, one bad decision is less than 10% of all the good ones. The solution to pollution is dilution.

Daniel

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Daniel Marelli is a heart surgeon in Dover Delaware. Prior to settling in the mid Atlantic he lived in Morocco , in Canada as well as in California. He is fluent in English, French, and Hebrew. He has a lifelong appreciation for literature and art and enjoys skiing. More recently, he has taken up yoga practice. 

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This blog post was curated and/or edited by The Ardent Reader, Esther Hofknecht Curtis, BSOL, MSM-HCA. The views expressed in this blog post are those of the guest blogger. Visit Esther's page at www.parrotcontent.com for more information.