Friday, February 10, 2017

Why Scare Myself?

Why am I trying to scare myself?


Today I am following a prompt on #FridayReflections:  “Do one thing every day that scares you” – Eleanor Roosevelt. Use this quote in your post or as an inspiration for one.

I grew up considering Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of United States President Franklin Roosevelt, as one of my early childhood heroines.  In case you are not familiar with the U.S. Presidents, Franklin Roosevelt was the President from 1933 to his death in 1945.  From the time he was first in the public eye, he kept a secret - his legs did not work. In a time when the disabled faced major discrimination, he hid the fact that polio had taken his mobility.

Eleanor, of course, kept his secret.  But she accomplished so much more apart from her role as First Lady.  She was a writer, humanitarian, and diplomat. She had a newspaper column for many years.   She wrote many books, including her autobiography.  She grew up in a time where women were raised to stay silent, and refused to.

It's sobering to realize she didn't even have the right to vote for the first part of her life.

Meantime, I am about as introverted a person as a person can get.  I've rarely spoken out about my political views.  But now, in the present United States climate, I feel I must speak out.

I find myself starting to write somewhat political blog posts.  I have contacted the offices both my United States senators to voice concerns about treatment of the disabled (even doing it by email took courage for me). 

I am thinking of other ways to exit my shell.  It's hard.  But living in a country whose direction is changing to one that frightens me is also hard. 

Additionally, I am seriously thinking of joining the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, which will require 30 posts in 30 days, based on (in order) a letter of the alphabet.  April 1 - A.  And so forth.  I have never done daily posts on this blog and that challenge would really stretch me.  And, yes, scare me.

I even think I might I go all out and try to use these posts to blog a book. I'll be scared for even longer.

But it is necessary to do what scares me, if my brother in law "Bil" is to retain the quality of life he now enjoys.

A daily scare?  Not quite yet.  But, Eleanor, I'll give it serious thought.

4 comments:

  1. It's funny, I've heard the name Eleanor Roosevelt a billion times but never really knew much about her, so thanks for enlightening me. What an inspiring woman. I am definitely too scared and somewhat uninformed to write about political stuff, so I admire you. The blogging challenge sounds scary/fun. Good luck!

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    1. Thank you, Ness. I'm still a bit hesitant, becaues it will be a lot of work and I may have to travel (and be without internet access) for several days in April. But we'll see.

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  2. Thanks for the background on Eleanor Roosevelt. It's scary enough knowing what you have to encounter in your country over the next few years. Good luck with the A to Z challenge! I have done it twice before and enjoyed it but not sure if I'm doing it this year yet.

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    1. I am going to try A to Z for at least a few days on this blog, and see how it goes. The moderators of that challenge have made some changes and, without being on Facebook (as I don't blog under my name and want to remain unknown for now) I don't know if it will work out. Thank you for the good wishes.

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