Actually it started last night.
I happened to be spending a boring Saturday night watching TV when there was really nothing to watch. Sad, I know. I accidentally came across a public re-broadcast of the liberal policy workshop happening in Ottawa this weekend. With nothing else to do I settled in to be bored.
What actually happened was that I found it somewhat interesting to see how they decided what resolutions were important to these people. I have voted liberal my whole life. I have not always agreed with the liberal party. I am lukewarm toward Paul Martin but so far have been impressed with his performance. I just haven't gone so far as to trust him yet. Anyway to get back to my story .... I realized that I felt very strongly about several of the resolutions they were debating and amazingly every time they took a vote I was rooting for the outcome, silently hoping the vote would go my way. In almost every case it did. I began to realize that the people in that crowded noisy room, these ordinary Canadians, were people just like me. Well not JUST like me. They were smarter and more articulate in most cases but for the most part they were like me. Opinionated and passionate about those opinions. The biggest difference was that they were doing something about it. I'm not sure having a blog qualifies.
I was jealous.
This morning I went to the liberal party website to check it out. I have never actually BELONGED to any political party despite my multitude of opinions on matters political. I am not much of a joiner usually. I was mildly interested last election to somehow get involved but it was a tenuous interest at best as I had no real idea exactly what one had to do to be involved. I have never actually known anyone who WAS a member of any political party at the grassroots level and it has always been a bit of a mystery exactly how things worked. I'm a bit ashamed about that now.
Anyway .... back to my eureka moment. In short order I found the link to my local riding website and checked out events and things started to take a more personal turn. I started to realize I COULD be involved. Well at least I could go and watch people who WERE involved as there were events and meetings being held in my community that I could attend. Ok, I always knew that, had even seen ads in the paper advertising them but for some reason I never CONNECTED. I think watching the workshop last night opened things up for me in a way I hadn't ever experienced before.
The people I saw were ordinary. They spoke about as clearly about things as I do when speaking spontaneously about issues. Sometimes the words they wanted weren't there. Sometimes the facts weren't either although I could see them wracking their brains to remember the elusive tidbit they knew but couldn't quite vocalize. Sometimes they didn't quite get their whole message across in the limited time they had to discuss an issue. I don't know it was just all so ordinary, human, flawed and yet beautiful. Democracy in action. I wanted to be part of it and I never want to be part of anything. Classic loner here.
So long story short. I finally ended up on my local liberal party website for Vancouver Island North. I stared at the membership form. I checked out local events and began thinking ....this could be fun. Meet people who think about social issues the same way I do ... and are willing to discuss it in public. I usually bore the people I meet to death talking about all the issues you aren't supposed to talk about in polite company ... you know politics, religion and my kids.
I have been divorced from society for a long time. Perhaps it's time I get in the game. Not sure I'll join yet tho not being a joiner and all ... but I know I WILL check out the party's website more frequently and I am going to make a heroic effort (for me anyway) to go to the next event and see what all the fuss is about.
IA
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