To Vote, To Vow, To Rest

Ohhh, hey, November!

Didn't see you standing there!

It's been so long since you were here! How ya been?!?

November is always my big month for personal reflection, thinking through what the last year has held, how I've changed, how the world has changed, and what not.

It's my birthday month, and I find it a more interesting time to dig deep than, say, new year's eve. A month of dynamic seasonal transition. Gratitude month. Election month. It's always felt more like the right time to explore my inner evolution and think about where I want to go next.

This year it feels even bigger.

This election is bigger.

This birthday is bigger.

Its a milestone birthday for me. I remember being a kid and all the parents hitting this one, and it was all black balloons and black cakes and jokes about being 'over the hill.'

Which I find hilarious and plan to recreate for myself.

Nowadays, though, we all know aging is WHERE ITS AT for personal growth, sooo----

I AM READY.

I was reading earlier this week about the etymology of voting and election words.

(Part of aging is not being embarrassed when I forget a segue and also tell people that I was reading about the history of election words)

Much of our language of democracy came from ancient Greece and Rome.

The Republics. The inspiration for our United States experiment in democracy.

In ancient Greece, votes were cast by dropping a pebble into an urn. They had a whole syllable that represented the sound the pebble made as it struck the bottom.

Konk.

LOL.

KONK.

Our word ballot comes from the Italian ballotta/palotta or "little ball."

Votes were cast with tiny colored balls, secretly. So the numbers could be counted but any one person did not have to share their vote publicly.

Our word VOTE.

From Latin roots.

votum: vow, wish, solemn pledge

votus/vovere: to promise or dedicate

The same roots that bring us

devotion: committing to, by a sacred act.

votive: something given (or a candle lit) in fulfillment of a vow.

A devotion. A consecration. A pledge.

A thing solemnly promised.

This is your power and the value of your vote.

A thing solemnly and sacredly promised.

A ritual. An expression of belief.

A vow to uphold your highest principles.

A pledge of love and empathy.

A vow to care for all and for this earth.

A promise of compassion.

When we take time to practice yoga and meditation, there is always an intention. Sometimes you may choose to set a conscious intention, sometimes a teacher sets one for the group, sometimes it's not a conscious choice and yet we hope to leave each practice with more clarity than when we began.

Your vote, too, has an intention. No matter what happens over the coming weeks, that intention will not disappear. It will live on in you, and the choices you make.

So let's take this vow together.

To vote.

To rage or cry or celebrate as needed.

To keep moving forward in the highest principles of our practice.

Compassion.

Empathy.

Care for all.

*KONK*