I'm Coming Out of the Closet

I've known I was a democrat as far back as grade school when I first learned the differences in the two primary political party's platforms.  I have not wavered on that position, although I have not always voted democrat.   Yes, I have on occasion voted for a republican, because I felt that person would've been a better president. (you are welcome Mr Reagan).

Over the last 30+ years of being of legal age (to vote) I have pretty much kept my political opinions to myself.  I was taught that your votes were secret, hence the secrecy around the polling place and privacy while in the voting booth and turning in your secret ballot.  So I only shared my democrat preferences with very close friends or relatives.  As a self-employed person for most of my life, I never showed a preference one way or the other about politics in my business establishment because I figured that approximately one half of my customers were like me and the other half were not, and I didn't want to offend the 'other half'.

DONKEY: The donkey is arguably the noblest beast in all of the animal kingdom. The donkey is sober, patient, cautious, intelligent, sure-footed, has good stamina, and contrary to common belief it is not stubborn -even though they were formerly referred to as an Ass. [Source]

It seems that of late (since the 2008 elections) people have become more outspoken about their political opinions...from what I see the most outspoken have been the republicans and tea party members.  My neighbors, community leaders, and the businesses that I frequent don't seem to think it's a problem to publicly rant about the opposing party, or fill their yard (or business windows) with posters and signs supporting their choices and strongly opposing the other, as if 'their' choice was the only 'right' one.

None of my democrat friends, democrat neighbors, or democrat owned business that I frequented were doing this.  If you drove around in my neighborhood it would appear we were 100% Republican, when in fact we are nearly a 50/50 split. My husband even succumbed to the pressure and asked me to remove the small magnetic bumper sticker that supported Barrack Obama before we left the house so no radical republican/tea partyist would scratch up my car (they were actually doing that).  We democrats kept silent, we didn't boast loudly that we were voting democrat. We didn't stand on street corners shouting political propaganda at passer-byes, we didn't have huge rally's with Fox Channel celebrities making hate speeches. And we certainly didn't post signs in our businesses meant to offend one half of our customers.

But I feel a change coming on. I personally (and I'm not alone) am fed up listening to the nonsense that people are repeating as fact because they heard it on a Fox station. (I refuse to call it Fox 'News'). I am tired of keeping silent when a loud mouth racist republican insults or disrespects our President.  I'm tired of shopping at businesses that make it clear they don't like democrats.  I'm tired of not expressing my thoughts in mixed company because I don't want to offend someone (who has NO trouble with offending me).  I am tired of being a closeted Democrat.

I am coming out of the 'Democrat' Closet!  This next election season I am going to proudly share my choice in who I feel should be our next President and who should fill all of the other political positions beneath him or her. I am not going to remove my bumper sticker. I am going to host an election night party.  And I am going to speak openly about my beliefs.  But I am going to be a better, more respectful citizen, by doing all of this without becoming an offensive jerk like the people I have quietly tolerated for the last 6 years. 

Yes, in the next election season you are going to see a whole new Chicken Lady who ain't Chicken anymore!  

[Source]

 

Oh Boy, Has a Year Rreally Gone By Since My Last Post?!?!

Oh boy, has a year really gone by since my last post?!?!  I am sorry for being away so long but I felt I needed to take a sabbatical for a while, I just didn't plan on it being this long.

You are probably asking "Why did you need a sabbatical from a simple Chicken Lady life?  Well, because it wasn't always so 'simple', and I needed to sort out some things within myself.  I originally created this blog to share my journey getting back into chickens, back to country life and living more nature, after being away from that lifestyle for most of my adult life.  But after a while I began to feel that I was boxed in to just blogging about my chickens, gardening, and my living green experiments.  I didn't feel that I could share more about the personal side of 'me' in this journey.  I had so much more I wanted to share and express but felt my readers that came here because they were interested in chickens wouldn't be interested in the other aspects of my life.   This left me feeling that I was being two people -the chicken lady AND the middle aged woman struggling with being middle aged, finding my way career wise or retirement wise, surviving in this hostile political time, and finding place within all of this.  I didn't feel like I was being my true self in only sharing one aspect of myself with you, so I took a break to sort this all out.

During my break, I considered starting a new blog where I would blog about the other 2/3's of my life, but that just felt inauthentic.  So I did what a deer does when faced with headlights of an on coming car...I stood there doing nothing, waiting for the car to hit me.  Fortunately for me the metaphorical car went around me.  Leaving me just standing there still confused as to what to do next, which direction do I go?  So just like that deer, I wondered off into the woods and pondered my decisions.  I doubt that's what the deer really do when they are barely missed by a speeding vehicle, but I would like to think that they at least learn something from the event and stay off the road in the future.

For me the time away gave me some clarity.  I began to realize that to be my true self I had to be willing to take a chance that my readers wanted to know ME, not just the Chicken Lady part of me.  So after much thought, consideration, and soul searching, I am back!  I loved this blog so much.  I loved interacting with my readers, and reading your blogs.  I just hope my readers are still around somewhere willing to give me another shot at this.  I have decided that I am not going to box myself in to just talking chicken (which I do love to do) because there is so much more to me than just that.  This was suppose to be about sharing my journey... chickens were just the springboard to that journey.  You can now look forward to me sharing my thoughts on other subjects, my opinions, and my personal feelings about things other than just chickens.  But don't worry, I will have lots to say about chickens!

Thank you for coming back and understanding that I just needed some time to figure out what direction I wanted (needed) to go in.  I hope you are willing to get to know the true me and take this journey with me fully! 

Keeper of 1 husband, 2 grandkids, 3 dogs,
3 cats, and 17 Chickens!

I would love it if you 'Liked' me on Facebook too!

Did this post stir something inside of you?  Leave me a comment, I would love to know what you're thinking!!!