Elections will not save us.
An appeal to think of living more than voting
Every presidential election I’ve voted in since I turned 18 has supposedly been the most consequential of my lifetime. It seems as if this one is no different.
I’m not cynical but rather apathetic towards the idea that this establishment is going to save us.
Tomorrow, I will vote for Kamala Harris because bodily autonomy and LGBTQ+ rights and free and accessible education matter to me. Because I don’t want to live in a world governed by Project 2025.
But I don’t believe that the world I do want to live in will ever be found at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The world I want to live in, the world I believe we all want to live in, operates from a deep well of love and lightness. It’s free from the shackles of ego and judgment. Truth blooms like sunflowers.
We can find that world in community. In the smile passing us on the street. It’s built by every voice that uplifts another, the joy we find in the success of our neighbor. The world I want breathes in the moments we let go of fear and show up for someone else.
You know that feeling when you are about to brush past a painting in a gallery, but something catches your eye and stops you mid-motion? That feeling is what I live for, one of pure clarity and soul, aesthetic brilliance heating up every cell in your body. It’s those moments that reveal the inherent beauty in human experience, and our capacity for feeling alive.
That is a feeling that we will never vote ourselves into; it’s a feeling that we have to intentionally embody every day.
I hope you are voting in a way that allows everyone to live as their truest selves — because I do believe voting is important, especially in local elections. But more than that, I hope you are living in a way that emphasizes that feeling. I hope you are helping others embrace it, too. There is a vitality available to us all, and we’re only going to find it within each other.
White castles and ballot boxes can’t replace the sincerity with which we deserve to enjoy life. We must keep living that ourselves.
The Midwest Creative is a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please consider a subscription to my brilliant colleagues’ work to support storytelling across the state of Iowa. All of these authors provide content for free, with paid subscription options. Pick one or more, and help sustain this movement.