#82 / Representative

I have never been as happy in my work as I was when I was an elected member of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. In thinking about why that is so, I realize that those who elected me, and whose representative I was, were my "reason" for doing what I did, and thus convinced me of the "legitimacy" (and value) of what I was doing. 

In many ways, I was able to be quite self-directing during the twenty years I spent on the Board of Supervisors, representing the Third Supervisorial District, but I always felt (and I think correctly, since I was elected five times) that I was doing what the majority of the people wanted me to do. Not all the people were happy with my work; not by a long shot, but the majority were!

Writers need an audience. Those engaged in the political life need to represent someone besides themselves. Doing that, at least for me, brought satisfaction.

Image Credit: 
http://larrydoyleesq.blogspot.com/2012/01/ab-1208-approved-by-assembly.html