RIP Granny D

Sad news today. Doris Haddock, better known as Granny D, passed away. She is best known as an advocate for campaign finance reform who walked across the country from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. as a spry 90 year old to try to raise awareness of the corrupting role money plays in our political system. She also ran an unsuccessful bid for the Senate.

I was fortunate to have lunch with Granny D a few years back when she was visiting my dear friends, Pat and Lou, who, like Granny D, are not only activists for many good causes in the name of democracy but also senior citizens. I think of the three of them and marvel because I know many people with good hearts who spend years fighting the good fight to help bring about positive change in this world, only to end up disillusioned, exhausted, and bitter. Indeed I worry that some day I too will end up a crabby old liberal. but then I look at folks like Granny D and wonder what it takes to keep the fire burning, to have your commitment to justice not get quashed by the money and influence the bad guys wield.

That is today's question. What do you need to do to keep the optimism, to keep working when you see that there is so much that needs to be done no matter how much you accomplish. How can you keep the sisyphisean task from wearing out your spirit?