This morning I woke to a few disheartening tweets. I won’t go TOO much into the DC political scene here (this is a wedding blog afterall) but if you follow me on Twitter, than you already know who I voted for and my thoughts on the candidates any way. It wasn’t the winner of the DC Primary that got me though. It was this:
“Good morning. You live in a city where many avoid registering to vote, & less than 25% of the registered bother to vote in an election.” – @FrozenTropics
The 2nd disheartening tweet was that DeSean Jackson signed a 3-year deal with the Skins. I was SO hoping the NFC East had seen the last of him. But football aside, I was PISSED, angry, frustrated, annoyed, and so many other feels that all basically mean the same thing. All of these adjectives, to me, can be summed up into one root cause: complacency.
Let’s Get Personal: A Reflection on the Killer that is Complacency
Why are people so complacent these days? I GRILLED my coworker (a DC resident of many years) why he wasn’t voting. He gave the usual response, “It doesn’t matter anyway. Plus I hate politics”. Does anyone actually like politics? But seriously, in an election where candidates won by a mere hundreds of votes, I don’t understand how you can say, “it doesn’t matter anyway”.
As I continued to drive into work, my anger grew outside of the complacency in local politics and into the wedding scene (naturally). People seem to be increasingly complacent here too. On the vendor side, I can barely ever get people to commit to our At Your Service volunteer events. On the blogging side, blog comments are at an all time low, and so are any sort of interactions I used to have with my readers. And on the couples side, my workshop ticket sales are no where near what I thought they would be at, at this point. What am I blaming all these things on?
Complacency.
I think people have just grown overly complacent with the status quo. People don’t want to DO things, GO anywhere, PUT forth any effort. Whether it’s voting or volunteering or taking an extra second to let someone know you like what they put out.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I am exempt from this. I know I am guilty of being complacent too. I should go to more neighborhood meetings, I should volunteer more, I should see more of my friends in a timely manner. But I don’t. I use the busy excuse and I carry on.
But complacency is a killer, isn’t it? When you really look back at all the things you DIDN’T do because of complacency, you realize you haven’t really done much. Are you OK with this? I’m not. I want to do more – I need to do more. And I honestly think the world would be a better place, if more people not only felt this way, but started to act on it.
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6 comments
Without getting into politics…I’m happy with this morning results!! :)
But thank you for the word of the day, couldn’t agree more. I recently moved from MD (Largo) to DC (Pethworth), and couldn’t believe the difference. My excuse, I have two little ones (2 and 3 yrs old) and there is not a lot of places that are kids friendly in DC, specially not for working mom. The gyms for example, the restaurants around the area (not chain restaurants), so I used this as an excuse to stay busy indoors or simple go outside of DC. Maybe I need to look closer into what DC has to offer.
To each his/her own Karey – ALL political views are welcome here :) Glad to hear I am not alone in my thoughts on complacency. You are certainly allowed to have excuses (I have them too!) but I think you might find more young parents (with young kids) out and about in DC than you think – check out the DC MEETMarket this Saturday in Logan Circle – and I saw TONS of young parents (with infants) at The Big Board (a burger joint on H Street) just this past Saturday night. You might be surprised at what you find ;)
I could not agree with you more! I struggle with my own complacency in addition to my frustration with that of the world. The trick is I always feel better when I am being proactive and reaching for my goals. Something about inertia though… when I’m stagnant it is so hard to get out of that. I just keep reminding myself it’s worth the effort!
A great reminder and SO true that once you are grounded, it’s hard to get moving again. But I think talking about it and admitting that we all do it, can only help! Let’s push each other together :)
Love the post, Bree!
This is SUCH a big thing for me and my business, this year. After having a baby last year (bringing my offspring count to a total of TWO), I refused to get into a slump with my business, especially when I took maternity leave at such a HIGH point in my business – I was networking, getting clients, rebranding, etc. I made it a goal (among other things) to take my business and stamp on the wedding industry to the next level. I make it a GOAL to make monthly goals that will ensure that I stay connected, not only to my family and personal life (making time for my kids and husband and extended family), but also make the time to get out and stay relevant, build connections, TRY to make an impact where possible. Don’t get me wrong, I think for a lot of people – politics can be slightly depressing at times because it seems as though politicians can never relate to whom they supposedly represent, and sometimes seem as they are willing to sell their souls to the devil to get a vote, BUT that should not be an excuse for us NOT to take an active interest in the welfare….(well…you see where that is going Haha!). I try to at least stay current on the local issues in my community and create dialogue among my peers regarding such. Anyway….this has turned into a post of its own (I’m working on that). Thanks for such a great post! I hope to see you at a DC event, soon! :)
Lacoya – AWESOME. This response is so so great! I can;t even imagine how much crazier my life will become when kids start happening, but I admire your monthly goals (something I should probably adopt myself) so much. You are SO right – people need to at least ATTEMPT to make an impact. And yes, I know politics are a completely different beast, but we can make small attempts for change within our own lives & communities. And I hope to do that. Can’t wait to read your own post :)