politics of change

I'm going in. The water isn't really that cold.

It's time to talk politics. Now, I'm not bold enough to claim a candidate yet but I, like you, am listening. My interest in our next election has never been so high. (Okay, I'm a slow learner...) I am searching for the next new thing.

As a matter of fact, searching for the next new thing is a favorite pastime. The Internet makes it easier. I can educate myself here. I can develop opinions with the help of anonymous friends, just a click away. I can get some bad information, too.

The real fact is that, if I read it on the Internet, someone posted it. The person posting has an opinion. Every Internet "fact" is born of opinion. Whether you type the name of a candidate, a recipe or a book in that Google search bar, what comes up on the page are transparent opinions. That information wouldn't be there if someone hadn't thought it had value and she took the time to post it.

The most important part of your search results, however, isn't necessarily the fact that it was posted by someone. The most important part of any search is how soon you found it. If you found your info on the first page of your search, congratulations. It may mean you had lots of friends looking for the same info, too.

So where am I headed with this?

I think everyone should use the Internet to find "friends". (Shame on you...I didn't mean that type of friend...) We should always be on the lookout for people that share information the right way and in the right spirit. The right spirit - one of compassion, curiosity, or generosity, for example - can change the world. (That's right. I said "World!") Each of us has a chance to make a difference. We need to find "our people." And when we do, we need to endorse them.

Your internet search is a metaphor for our lives. Please keep looking. If we don't search for our answers, we can't create change.