Reality: You Can Own It, Or It Can Own You

IT’S the solar eclipse of politics, and it only happens once every 4 (or 8) years.

It’s the time when importance and relevance is finally cast on the great state of South Carolina, and our opinion truly matters.

Eight years is a long time span, with four seeming to be just as much. For someone in their formidable years, it can mean the difference of pursuing a career (or life) path that they wouldn’t normally pursue, or taking the easy corporate route. Something about the lights, the cameras, and the action can truly leave one in a stupor.

Fortunately for me, I had Barry Goldwater on my bookshelf when I was 15. But for others, the primary season can be the catalyst for recognizing an unfound love. When you’re in a room at arms-length with important Senators, news anchors, and ”movers and shakers”, it’s easy to look to your left, right, and say, and “what do these people have that I don’t…I’m doing this.” It’s the hyperactive grind of the political beat that can literally blindside you into a career that until that moment, you least expected.

The next couple days in S.C. are important for the election, and with that, there’s ever-important things going on every day. If you aren’t already involved, go be. Campaigns are being run, debates (like the FREE FOR STUDENTS SRLC DEBATE in Charleston) are being held, and media is all over Columbia like white on rice. In our age, it’s even easier to get involved. Tweeting, blogging, and putting your opinions out there is a first step. There’s opportunity around just about every corner. Why don’t you do it? It could possibly start a love affair with politics that got hold on me years ago.

That love died for a while, but it’s coming back. Slowly. Politics is about finding the right people, and being loyal to them. It’s a pretty simple concept, and who knows- one handshake backstage could set it off for you.

So, get out of bed and get involved. Expose yourself to new surroundings. Then, decide what to be and go be it.

-RAS