Enough Already!
Stop!
Enough Already!!!
You are entitled to your opinion and your free speech. But does everything have to involve politics? Just in case you haven't noticed, your smart-alec Facebook posts have converted no one. Neither have they made you any more friends. Maybe they made you feel better. I hope.
I am especially disturbed at my inability to get away from the fray. Sports has always been the one place Americans could retreat to to get away from the mudslinging and name calling and hand wringing of politics for a while and escape the pressures of life in general. That is one reason people are so put off when athletes bring their politics onto the field, court, or wherever their game is played.
For
You're welcome.
What has my ire up today is my inability to get away from it all. This morning I retreated to some of my usual sites attempting to get out of harm's way and indulge in my fantasies of and love for swimming only to be assaulted over and over there also. #swimstory has long been, one of my favorite places to soak myself in the water adventures of others and recharge my batteries, free form insult.
Wrong.
The politics on #swimstory has been so strong lately that I am seriously considering unjoining the site. The same is true of Did you swim today?, a United Kingdom based group that has been a delight over the years. But I do have a problem with Brits weighing in on American politics. I have never commented on their elections, parties, candidates, etc. I figure it is none of my business, and I figure ours is none of theirs.
So I bailed on #swimstory and Did you swim today? and Facebook also and turned to one of my tried and true avenues of escape: blogs. I have dozens of blogs in my favorites list on my laptop and wade through then periodically just for fun or inspiration or information. The first one I returned to this morning was comparing lane etiquette with political parties. If you commit this or that lane sin in your local pool, you are like ________ _________. If you have this attitude or that attitude then you are like this political party.
Sigh.
I closed that one out and went to anther of my favorite blogs, one that has always been good for some creative swim sets that inspire me to add some thought to my practices.
More politics.
Maybe I am throwing the towel in too early, but that's it. Instead of reading blogs, I will write which is why I am typing this. In fact, if you investigate my blog you will notice that each year of my blogging life has seen me increase my productivity. For example,
2012 - 74 posts
2013 - 107 posts
2014 - 125 posts
2015 - 190 posts
2016 - 216 posts
Anyone can see that I have been writing more and more. What you can't see but what I am plainly and truthfully telling you now is that there is a direct correlation between my increased writing and my decreased reading. When I first began this blog, I had about thirty women triathloners saved in my favorites list. One by one I deleted them because their machismo was more than I could bear. No joke, the blood and pain and suffering and the sacrifices were just too much for me. I hope I don't come off that way and if I do, please call me out on it. I hope my writing entertains and informs you and maybe even inspires you, but I certainly don't want to wear you out with how I suffer and sacrifice the be the world's most unheralded athlete.
So since I can't find suitable reading material, I am creating it. Thus my blog has expanded to include poetry, essays, fiction, complaints, and whatever else I will add in 2017. One thing is for sure: will will not find me voicing my opinion on English politics. In fact, you will not catch me typing a single word about American politics. If you can find where I ever have in 724 blog posts or four and a half years of Facebook, I have a crisp $100 bill I will hand over to you or send you in the mail.
So there. Please just shut up and read this blog.
Have a terrific day.
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