"You Never Write About Politics Anymore."

With my change in jobs, trips to the local courthouse have become less regular. When I stopped in last week to snap a photo of Kaufman County's new district clerk for a story, it didn't take long for one of my old acquaintances to find me. It took even less time for him to utter that phrase.

"And why don't you update your blog more often?"

Every weekend, I call my father. We've exchanged phone calls off and on for years, though, it's become more regular of late since my father's BS-ing buddy passed away a few months ago. Typically, the talks start off as nothing special. There's a recap of how the kids are doing. I probably complain about work. We both will talk a little sports.

And then it happens.



About 5 minutes into every phone call, the conversation turns to politics. A minute later, I'm usually finding a reason to hang up.

Thanks to Don J., I'm currently reading this book. If you haven't read it, I'd suggest giving it a try if for no other reason it's a pretty easy read and makes you sound smart when you bring it up in social settings.

While the book covers plenty of territory that you may or may not enjoy, for me, the idea of editing ones life is what drew me in. Every day I edit words. I've not been so good about doing the same with my life.

The Lovely Wife often jokes that for a guy who works with words, I never took the time to learn one: No. I'm that guy who doesn't say "no" to people when they ask me to help. Blame it on middle-child syndrome or something, but more often than not I have too much on my plate which has me making personal sacrifices to improve the lives of others.

Donald Miller, the author of the book, recently said that "God did not design you to never say no. Instead, He designed you with limitations, and you have to manage those limitations well."

I think that's a great point, and one I need to learn. Needless to say, my life could use a little editing to bring the more important things back into focus and help me work within my limitations.

So I've been trying — and the first casualty was this blog.

As a writer, I've always believed that your experiences matter. A story is always better if it actually means something to the writer. My blog, with its daily updates and numerous links, was no longer a reflection of me or my experiences. I was just feeding the beast, as they say.

And the easiest way I found to do that was talk politics. After all, everyone seems to have an opinion about that subject. I spouted a few opinions myself. I linked to more. And, of course, I received plenty of unsolicited viewpoints from the nameless masses.

A good friend of mine recently sent me a quote that stated "A spear without a point is just a stick. A story without a point is just as dull."

I fairly sure that summed up not only my blog, but also how I was living my life - dull and without a point.

One of the first things I did to begin this new editing process of my life was to make a list of things I liked and disliked.

Not surprisingly, the list of likes was pretty simple: Coffee, spending time with my wife and kids, reading a good book, watching a good movie, relaxing with friends, finding satisfaction with my work.

Surprisingly, topping my list of dislikes (which I found to be a bit longer list than I liked) was talking about politics. Just turn on one of the cable television news channels and you can see what talking politics is. It's mean, nasty, finger-pointing that never really leads to a solution of anything. It's us against them no matter the consequences. It's not about doing right, but instead about winning. Most of all, it wasn't about me.

So I edited it out of my life.

And I haven't regretted a minute of it.

I'm sure as I work my way through this process there will be more edits. Some likely only I will notice. Others may be more apparent. The ultimate goal, though, is worth it: a better, happier me.

So, no, I don't write about politics anymore.