On Saturday, I walked into my polling place and cast my vote on the very first day of early voting in my state. It felt absolutely amazing. From the moment I walked in from the parking lot to the moment I walked back out, I felt uplifted.
Though it was only the first day in a series of 11 days of early voting, there was already a steady crowd. In fact, after getting my ballot, I had to wait a bit until a voting booth became available. As I filled in the boxes next to the names of people I was choosing, I left one particular race until the end because there was a candidate I was especially excited about. I wanted to finish on that vote. And then, of course, I was delighted to get my voting sticker, which lived on my purse for a little while.
When we think about doing our civic duty, we often feel a sense of urgency, anxiety, or responsibility. All of those are valid feelings for a set of vital commitments. But I found myself thinking about my joy. Can a sense of delight be part of civic engagement as well? I hope so.
I don’t know how it’s all going to land or what kind of chaos could be on the other side. But at least for that moment, I was riding high. And I hope you might experience a feeling like that, too, whether you vote early or show up at the polls on November 3rd.
