Voting, roots

I just finished filling out my absentee ballot for the upcoming elections . . . as a Washington resident! Even though I don't know how long I will be in Seattle, I didn't want to be here with the mindset of a wanderer. The basis is a sermon I heard, during grad school, based on Jeremiah 29:4-7:

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

At that time I recall doing the opposite of the above verses: I was mostly ignoring the people I would encounter every day, the vast majority of whom were students like I was. I was just there to do research, get my degree, and yes have idle fun, but really it was a stepping stone. Not a cornerstone. I definitely was not trying to put down roots, either physically or relationally. The reality was that school was a temporary place for me and most of the others. Every year, most students seemed to leave and new students replaced them.

Long story short, I found my attitude and perspective changing. And I was much happier. Not only was I getting to know a lot more people--some better than others, some still friends and some I've lost touch with--but I was less of an overanalyzing, selfish person. I hated how my mind would think, "It would be better for you to get to know this person instead of that person, because of such-and-such." Or how I would go places for a week and put up these walls because I didn't think it would be worth really getting to know people there.

This attitude check transformed my actions at Caltech, in Minnesota, in SF, and now in Seattle. And I am very grateful, even though I have continued to move around frequently. So, even though I might leave Seattle in any given month, I have updated all my personal info to here, including my car and voter registration. And I want to get to know my neighbors better.

FYI, if you want to know whom I voted for, anyone should feel free to e-mail me.