It was another gorgeous sunrise today.  The light tangerine colors splashed against the edges of the sky and then warmed into an orange reminiscent of a cream-sicle ice-cream bar.  Then the sun slowly moved over the horizon, as the earth made its continuous movement, bringing the dawn of a new morning into reality.  I’m lucky.  I typically get up early enough to see this on most mornings.  Typically I will either have a fresh cup of coffee in hand or be waiting on the coffee maker to produce that sweet nectar of the Gods for me.  I’m in no hurry to be anywhere and can spend some quiet time absorbing the view of the world from my backyard windows.

Over the past two years, I’ve spent a lot of time removing the hum-drum of the American political scene from my life.  That’s come to mean that I cut most of the news-feeds out of my daily life.  I read or watch the news approximately twice a week – and that’s when I feel generous with my own time.  My desire to not have politics within my life has presented me with criticism from a wide variety of corners.  What it has also provided me with is a less divisive world, as demonstrated and created through such movements as “Tea Party” and “Occupy”.  Both areas have crept into my classroom through commentary provided by my students, but I tend to squash such commentary very quickly.  As I tell my students, I teach a Business Communications class – if they want politics, they should have taken the Government class that is offered down the hall.  On FaceBook, I have a few friends who post political commentary, but for the most part – I tend to hide those particular posts.  I just don’t care for that area of discourse.

There have been a few folks who have hinted that I would prefer no one to talk politics at all.  That’s not true.  I would just prefer that I wasn’t included in the discourse when the topic comes up.  As Austin Powers would say:  “That’s not my bag, baby”.  There are, however, areas of my life where politics will inevitably creep into.  Environmentalism.  Computer Science.  Computer Security.  Information Security.  All are big topics on Capitol Hill, here in America.  And there are other areas.  So, I’m cognizant that I’ll never truly be able to pull myself away from the world of politics….but I can limit its footprint in my daily life.  Sort of like reducing one’s carbon footprint.  I’m just making a concerted effort to reduce my political footprint.