That's not to say I wouldn't love to be our electorate's MP - I reckon I'd do a brilliant job of standing up for Whanganui, showcasing our successes and advocating for more support to thrive.
But that's just a dream. Right now my life is full enough - maybe when my boys are older, or if Parliament becomes more family-friendly.
Even though MMP has been around for a while, there seems to still be questions about the importance of the party vote - it's what influences the make-up of Parliament.
It's not simply about winning electorates. The more party votes the Greens get, the more Green Party MPs we get in Parliament, and the more influence we can have on our country's national direction. Some recent issues the Greens have led the way on - pointing out that 35 per cent of our Maui's dolphin sanctuary has been opened for oil exploration, campaigning against the bottling and exporting of pristine water with profits flowing overseas, and kicking off an inquiry into aged care, with Labour and Grey Power.
This week's discussion led by the Greens' co-leader James Shaw is about how to create a more meaningful gross domestic product. GDP is seen as a snapshot of our country's economic performance, but it doesn't distinguish between what's driving that economic activity, whether it's earthquake recovery, traffic accidents or quality job creation.
James has proposed a bill to identify new environmental measures like the state of our rivers and lakes and the health of our fish stocks to provide a more rounded sense of our country's success, alongside GDP.
Our neighbouring Green candidates, Jack McDonald for Te Tai Hauauru, Thomas Nash for Palmerston North and Robin McCandless for Rangitikei, are good examples of what you may get when you party vote Green.
At 23, Jack has already served as Paekakariki's community board chairman and descends from World War I conscientious objector Archibald Baxter. Thomas is a former diplomat and global disarmament campaigner, and Robin is an experienced public servant and project manager.
Maybe voting Green isn't such a strange option - today's Greens are surprisingly sensible and well connected to what's important in our communities. For me, the Greens offer hope and principles in these crazy global political times - the Dutch Green Party just quadrupled their vote in their recent election, so I'm not alone.
Hey even Lorde is sending subliminal messages to vote Green with her latest hit, Green Light, so maybe we're on to something.
While I can't guarantee you won't be seeing a lot more of me in the lead up to September 23, I promise this column won't be all party-political broadcasts - back to normal programming next fortnight. But if you want more, I'll be down at the River Trader's market regularly over the next six months, or get a group of friends together and I'll come happily visit and talk politics with you until the cows come home.
-Nicola Patrick is a Horizons regional councillor, a Sustainable Whanganui trustee and works for Te Kaahui o Rauru. A mother of two boys, she has a science degree and is a Green Party member.
