Simple Twist of Fate

“….Great!” that well worded statement is the answer I gave to the question, “So how does it feel to be the youngest elected person in the history of New Paltz.” I guess I really just didn't know what to say. It feels like a lifetime ago I walked into that gym to hear the election results. I had nothing but a rose in my hand that I was given at my choir concert that had ended mere moments before. In such a short time I feel like my life has already changed so much. The graduation “high” as I have heard it described has well worn off. I have already been sworn into office, and I am currently interning in the Ulster County Comptroller’s office.

It may be summer time, but now all the real work has started. I think sometimes you just have to stop. You need to look at yourself and evaluate what is happening; I think doing this keeps people sane…for the most part. That is why I decided to write today. You see on Sunday I was invited to a fundraiser for Congressman Maurice Hinchey. It was held at the Steel House in Kingston. As I sat there with people who were probably all around twenty years older then me, I couldn’t help but think of the last time I was at the Steel House.

It was May 29, 2009 and it was also Senior Ball. The events in comparison had very different music, and let me tell you it certainly had very different dancing (I think that was for the better though). I had to ask myself how did I do this, how did I go from Senior Ball only a few weeks before to sitting at a table with a woman who felt the need to tell me all that she disliked about public schools and the Teachers Union. That discussion promptly ended with the question, “So Dan, do you want to run for office someday?”

It certainly has been an interesting calendar year to say the least. I realize only a year a go I was just coming home from American Legions Boy State, a place where I decided I didn’t want to run for any office. Instead I sat back and watched other people duke it out. I am very excited to watch and see how the rest of 2009 plays out as the first part has been pretty good to me. I can’t wait to go to Marist, I can’t wait till the Board of Education gets into full swing, I can’t wait to start working on the next campaign, and I just can’t wait to see what is around the corner!

During my relatively short time being involved in the uncharted world of politics I have received a lot of advice, some solicited but most not. I probably have received the best advice from a good friend of mine by the name of Jon Sennett, he once told me, “Do what you think is right…you don’t owe anyone anything.” I certainly have taken that to heart, and I couldn’t help but think of that piece of advice on Saturday.

I sat in a sea of people all focused on one person. That person never acknowledged the crowd, sat in the back of the stage, and wailed into the microphone. He rearranged his songs that everyone had come to know and love to a point where they became nearly unrecognizable. He is 68 and still touring, of course I am talking about Bob Dylan. I have to imagine Dylan has amounted more then enough money that he no longer needs to play dozens of shows scattered throughout the country, and yet he does.

I did notice that through the whole show Dylan seemed to smile, he seemed very comfortable and happy. To me that said it all, he played and performed the way he wanted to because he loves it, he really doesn’t care what any blog or Rolling Stone magazine has to say about it, at the end of the day he is just being himself and that’s all that really matters.

Dylan once wrote, “I try my best to be just like I am, but everyone wants you to be just like them.” I hope that when I am 68 I can still see the beauty in the way he performs. I hope as the next days, weeks, months, and years pass I can picture Dylan singing Maggie's Farm in just the way that only he can, and always keep in mind that small but ever so important piece of advice that Mr. Sennett gave me.