My family is filled with right-wing ranters.
Half of them live in New England, the other half in Florida.
I'm in the middle here in Virginia, so I'm Switzerland--neutral territory. I tell them when they come to visit, no politics or religion.
It works. If we avoid talking about politics or religion, we also avoid talking about controversial social issues that encourage voice raising, fist pounding and face reddening.
I like that.
People sometimes ask me how I came to be who I am, considering where I came from. I tell them I think I'm a moderate because living with extremes all my life scared me.
About the only person who understands this is my "little" brother who is 13 years younger than I am. He isn't right wing, but he's not moderate either. He says he's an anarchist but too lazy to do anything about it.
It was hard getting a word in edgewise, growing up in my house. I think I've said elsewhere that I was a quiet kid until I hit my teens. I was in hiding until I got old enough to move out. At 18, that door couldn't hit me in the be-hind fast enough. I was dead broke but motivated.
Twice, I had to bite the bullet of pride and move back in for short periods of time. But by age 21, I was permanently out, and my parents moved to Florida.
You might think from reading this blog that since I now had license to rant, I exercised that luxury. Not so. I was too engrossed in going to college and earning enough to live somewhere other than my beat-up car.
In real life, I get hot under the collar sometimes. I've spouted off. But I've never ranted the way I do on this blog, partly because when I get really angry, I cry, or I can't speak. So I walk away if possible. Fortunately, I don't often get that angry, and I only get angry over certain issues (as readers here might have noticed).
When I say writing is a way for me to purge myself of what could be toxic emotions, this is what I mean.
I don't know where I would be if I didn't know how to write. I just know I'm glad I am where I am now.
