Journey Towards Your Choice for President

We all have our story of how we've come to the choices we've made. I read Miko Samson's beautifully-written post in The Misadventures of Wonderboy and His Broken Hearts, carefully outlining his own journey of assessing each of the presidential candidates. Alas, his conclusion was as follows:

All told, 2010 will be interesting because it is a year of change: The person in Malacañang will change. The way we do elections will technically change. But at the same time, some things indicate that things will stay the same: We still have a crop of candidates that do not have any indication of speaking very clearly to us about what change is supposed to mean and how they intend to bring it about. The way forward remains unclear. The tension and irony that we are faced with underscores the fact that 2010 will be an important year, regardless of what happens.

While I love the posts that ring the truth about Nick because of how they resonate with my own thinking, reading posts like the one above -- as long as they are not written by closed-minded, raving lunatics -- makes me pause longer. Forces me to STOP. Take deep breaths. Listen inside for how I am moved. And then move to speak from the heart. Here is the comment I left on his blog.

I applaud the thoughtfulness and care with which you have considered both the situation of our times leading up to Elections in May 2010 as well as each candidate's situation/position in the race. At the same time, I would offer that while thoughtful and careful, it is not anywhere complete. Not that you promised that. None of us alone has the complete picture.

So, if I may offer that if you were interested in moving towards a picture more whole and closer to truth (I know, tricky-slippery concept), you might lean in a bit more and find ways to learn about the candidates beyond the debates and forums, TV ads and even surveys. Choose a venue you trust and (1) read in depth of their track record and how they have spent their lives as citizens of the country and see what alignment they have to their words/promises; (2) visit/listen in a venue like BlogWatch where they have invited each candidate, spending more than the two-minute flash-dance segments in forums and listen both to the answers as well as to the questions; tune into the energy of the conversation in the room. Sometimes, the greater truth will sneak in in the most unexpected places.

Finally, a word about change. Change has many many layers, from the most superficial to the most transformative and system-wide. What is our country in truth (there's that concept again) needing at this time and who among the candidates has the best understanding of this; has been able to see the vision of such a level of change needed and - most importantly -- has not been waiting to be given the post of presidency, to act on his vision, but is already, if I may, LIVING, exemplifying the change now. Finally, look to see who surrounds the candidate, who is starting to listen and sign up for not just the campaign to win, but sign up for a different life than the one we know and have today; and sign up for starting the change within.

As the CBCP entones, please look again and listen within the part of you and in all of us that already KNOWS what this country is crying and ready for. Therein lies the complete picture and the true candidate.

Thank you for the space to share.

Read his blog post and share your own thoughts -- here, there, everywhere.