It's these signs, man. They're freakin me out!
Since getting the signs last week I've handed out dozens of signs to friends. But there are so many more signs waiting to get out. And there are so many areas without any Chiappelli signs! And there are so many signs for the other candidates (still just 3/4 of the Republicans (the ones with money, of course) and only ours for Democrats). It's a giant, expensive, important pile of "To Do List". It stresses me out.
Jeremiah has focused his strategy with strangers to where we're concerned about placing signs only in highly visible places. With friends, any sign anywhere is great. But if we're going to knock on doors and ask for support, it's going to be highly visible places. Good. That simplifies things! But it's still a lot of time and effort. And I was asked by the "campaign sign team" to help drive around and ask permission to place signs. I'm dreading all that talking to strangers and letting people be mean to me for no good reason (and I have no doubt that people will be mean sometimes since it has already happened). It stresses me out.
A nice thing is that our neighbors are all supportive so when you turn onto our road, you follow a nice blue CHIAPPELLI trail right to our driveway. It's friendly territory. So that makes me feel positive and like we might be getting somewhere.
But signs are just part of the issue right now. The other issue is Gaining Public Support. Around here some candidates stand at the side of the road and on bridges, waving to cars during rush hour and waving their signs. Candidates swear by this method and people around here respond well to it. I wish this wasn't the case. It gives you the false sense that you "know that guy" and that he's just a regular Joe, hanging out in your neck of the woods just like you do. (you know, how normal it is for normal people to hang out on the side of the road and wave to everyone) In reality, it slows traffic, is unhealthy for the candidate breathing exhaust in the sun for hours, and is a flashy but unproductive use of time. Shouldn't you be doing something else instead, like being at a meeting or helping someone? If you want to know about a candidate, then you should google them. Really! Going to their campaign website is fine but it gives a very slanted view. Google will show you that, plus news articles, voting records, blogs, and references. That's how you should decide who to vote for. Good old fashioned research! With blogs now you can truly get to know the person's views, straight from the source. That's where we should gain our familiarity with a candidate, not from their sign waving on the overpass.
This is an important subject for me right now bc it's stressing me out. Where should Jeremiah be? Should he wave too? (he will. eventually. he has to. but where? and when? and starting on what date? and with who and what?) Instead of waving, he's going to lots of meetings. And he's getting great support at these. From people who meet him. What of the thousands of voters who haven't been to a community group meeting ever? How to win their support? It won't be in the same way as the other candidates. We've already covered how we won't have the same newspaper coverage, distribution lists, large expensive signs, and name recognition as the incumbents. This question of how he should best be spending his time when there are so many important and conflicting opportunities is very stressful to me. Part of it is the worry and part of it is because there's always somewhere for him to be. So he's not with me.
And I'm additionally stressed knowing that in the next few weeks I'm adding J.'s soccer practices, my college classes, and we're still hoping to get pregnant again after my appointment in August. I'm already so busy. How can I continue to do everything and add all this too?
Today I get to go to work. I was up with C. at 5am bc she couldn't sleep. So she'll probably take her first nap in a week today while I'm not home to benefit. But before I go to work, I'm going to the gym without the kids so I can blow off steam without having to worry about a time limit or a call from childcare. And then I'm going to Target to buy myself a new watch since I lost mine in a parking lot last week. And then I might take myself out to lunch so I can eat something other than PB&J. I might never get to work bc I really need some time to myself right now. I had great visits with friends during the day this week and even went out to a nice dinner with some friends one night. So I'm not deprived or anything. But I'm searching for a way to survive all this stress and maybe I just need a day to myself.
So when I said that I quit, I really mean that I wish I could quit. Everything that I'm doing is important to me and I'm weeding out the things that aren't priorities. I value all the things I'm doing. And I believe that Jeremiah's doing the right thing by running for office and I support him. And I love doing so many cool things with my kids. So when I quit, I quit for a few hours at a time. What I'm really trying to do is I'm trying to quit being stressed. By any means reasonable.
Good for you for carving out time to yourself!! It's SO important! My father-in-law went on a camping trip recently all by himself, and I found myself very envious of that---a whole night alone, under the stars. Bliss.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a "me" day tomorrow. Time at the spa, a lunch by myself....utter freaking luxury, I tell you! I'll get to eat a meal in its entirety. Or perhaps drink a cup of coffee while it's still hot, without needing to heat it up 10 times.:)