Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This weekend, we discuss what to do when politics attempts to derail your real priorities.
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The boogeyman presents itself differently depending on what your greatest fear is at that moment. Both sides of the political aisle have their own version of this, and they use it to push voters into the booth. They use the economy, your children’s safety, education, whatever the issue, to activate that fear mechanism in your brain that makes you want to choose sides.
At a basic level, it’s a useful tool because it works on most people. But what happens when it doesn’t? What happens when you look around and realize everyone else has let the boogeyman in, and you haven’t? Where does that put you politically?
I think I’m in that situation right now. Everyone I know seems to have found the boogeyman. They either want it eradicated, ended, or expelled from the country, or they see it as the ultimate victim in every scenario. But I don’t see that same fear when I look at it. I don’t really care much about it either way. It’s not for lack of trying on their part. I’ve been told over and over again that this issue is serious and I should care, but I don’t. In fact, if I never hear another word about this particular boogeyman again, it would be too soon.
All I want is to build an honorable, good life for my kids. I want a compound, or to own several houses on the same street, so we are within walking distance of each other. I want us to go to the same parish on Sundays for Mass so that we can have brunch together at my house afterward. I want my girls to live without fear and love unabashedly. I want their faith to grow because their marriages are good. I want them to live peaceful, quiet lives close to us. The boogeyman doesn’t affect whether this future is even possible, so why should I care?
I think it’s unhealthy to allow yourself to be talked into hysteria. That doesn’t mean issues aren’t sometimes so serious that you have to stop looking toward the future and focus on the immediate. However, you have to be able to discern what is important enough to make that decision.
This is how I personally make that determination. I ask myself the following questions: