One of my good friends in high school can tell you what a horrific student of history I was. He tried to tutor me in A.P. European History and just had to shake his head whenever I could come up with bizarre minutiae about the royal families, but nothing that approximated why the history was important. So what if King so-and-so had only 9 teeth, what was his impact on policy? Blah, blah, the teeth thing is cool. Politics is not cool.
Back then I thought about becoming an author, or perhaps a surgeon. (NEVER would I want to be a historian or politician!) I ended up becoming a neuroscientist. But then shifted gears and am currently doing a mash-up of computer science, photography, and writing - some paid, some unpaid. (And then there is that whole job called "Mom.")
Oddly, I married a politician. His main loves are history and politics.
And now I can say that I am an "author" like I dreamed so long ago. But here's the catch: It is a book about politics.
Technically I've been published before. Look for me in exciting places like The Journal of Neuropsychology, The Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, and plenty of those groovy "acknowledgements" in other papers. But I've never written something for an actual book. (Well, okay, my masthead was included in a portion of Professional Blogging for Dummies.)
So the book for which I am a real "author" is Mothers of Intention: How Women & Social Media Are Revolutionizing Politics in America, due out next month.
Okay, so the true "author" here is Joanne C. Bamberger, otherwise known as PunditMom. And my fellow co-authors are countless other amazing women. My essay is but a single contribution for the whole book, so I am quite eager to read the rest.
My particular bit was on Sarah Palin, back during the 2008 election. She's certainly not faded from the public eye, so although my essay was written awhile ago, Palin is still quite timely. When I wrote my piece, it was literally that I had to speak up. Sure, I'm not a politician, nor am I "interested" in politics, but true to the theme of Mothers of Intention, becoming a mother made me political. Whether it was finding my oldest son's niche when it was clear that he wasn't the textbook boy, or whether it was fighting budget cuts that might decimate the type of education that I value (ie, the non-STAR-test-driven type.) I have an opinion. I have a strong opinion.
Sure, I might try to avoid conflict in the day-to-day, and defer heavy political analysis to those who know laws, procedure, and history better than I do. But it turns out that I do have opinions about what is valuable for my family, and by extension, what direction I'd hope policy would go.
I may be timid at times, but I have thoughts worth considering. So do many other mothers. With that said, go preorder Mothers of Intention: How Women & Social Media Are Revolutionizing Politics in America - 'cause we'll love you forever!
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I am an Amazon affiliate so will get a few cents if you preorder/purchase the book through the link.
Comments (1)
Your essay rocks and I am honored that you let me include it in the book, which features so many great online women! And I have to say -- I'm loving the book cover! xo
Posted by Joanne Bamberger aka PunditMom | May 13, 2011 11:30 AM
Posted on May 13, 2011 11:30