I was volunteering on Labor Day at the League of Women Voter’s booth at the Geauga County Fair. The League is a non-partisan organization that promotes voter registration and democracy.
“Are you registered to vote?” I ask as the fair-goers stream by. Most say they are. Some aren’t and are willing to register, so we did sign up a few new voters today – yea!
If the answer is no, I tell them, “We can register you here today.” The answer often is still “no.” For example, one young African American man told me he doesn’t vote. He was very polite and took the time to try and explain to me why he doesn't: he'd rather put his faith in God than the government.
I am despondent when anyone neglects to vote, but I find it especially depressing when women or people of color don’t as our voting rights were denied for so long. Perhaps some people don’t vote because they feel their vote doesn’t count; perhaps it’s because their problems and the injustice they see in society are so overwhelming that they can’t imagine how their one vote will make any difference.
But each vote does matter. In fact, as Margaret Mead said:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
In yoga, our individual vote is like our intention, or what we call a
sankalpa in Sanskrit. When we practice yoga, we set our intention as our focal point. When we’re depressed or feeling down, it can feel useless to set an intention. But we know this is all the more reason to do so, because if we focus on being hopeless, well, we feel hopeless. Yoga teaches us that we can be with our feelings of hopelessness AND also set an intention for peace. We can sit with our feelings and sensations AND direct our actions, a little bit at a time, towards our intention.
The message is that change happens incrementally and by choice. There are moments in our lives when change happens in a flash, but by and large, change happens one step at a time, with steps that go forward and back as well as side to side. If we fail to cast our vote or set an intention, we give up our capacity to bring forth our unique and irreplaceable imprint to the world.
You matter. Your vote matters. Your intention matters.
Namaste,
Anne | 
