To me, chains are WIPs (a nod to Sarah): constant works in progress.

Chains have many connotations to me, as well.

There’s the bicycling connection: the chain is part of the drivetrain of a bicycle. It needs attention to work properly: proper lubrication, cleaning, inspection for excess wear. Chains are never ever perfect after they’re first installed on a brand-new drivetrain (including new cogs, new chainrings, etc.), but they can be kept in perfect working order for thousands of miles with a little TLC.

Bicycle chains are WIPs.

And then there are chains that are more cyclical: the chains that bind a person to an endeavor, organization, and the like. My political involvement in the District has also been a bit of a chain: binding me to the city and its politics, to political groups that can both inspire and frustrate, often at the same time.

But when the frustrating moments outweigh the uplifting ones, it’s time to break the chain.

I ran for a seat on the DC Democratic State Committee for mostly altruistic reasons. I wanted to change the old-guard ways of the previous administration (raise lots of money, spend even more, achieving nothing in the transaction other than ego stroking). I thought that our group of motivated newcomers could do it. We had drive and determination. We also wanted to show how much could be done (winning citywide election) with so little (a budget that was 1/20 that of our incumbent rivals).

We won in 2004. And once in office, I discovered how completely naïve we were in thinking that change would come. No matter how we tried, the old guard continued to do the same old shtick, time and again. Albert Einstein is credited with the following saying:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

And that sums up what being on the DC Democratic State Committee has been for the past four years.

So while many from my 2004 slate are gathering signatures to get on this September’s ballot, I’m not joining them.

I’m tending to the WIP that is me: cutting loose those things that cause undue stress and frustration.

I’m breaking the chain.

That’s not to say I won’t be politically involved. Politics and political causes are still near and dear to me, are part of my being and personality. But I’d rather be involved in things where I feel that my time is well spent, my opinions respected, and my frustration rewarded by progress from hard work, rather than the same ‘ol, same ‘ol.

Those are my chains. What are yours?