It happened.

The American Brexit happened.

Donald Trump happened.

But most importantly,

We allowed it to happen.

I'll spare you my angst and disappointment in this presidential election. I'll spare you the Facebook war that happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 9th. I'll spare you the rant of how this pushes America backward by 20 years. I'll spare you my grief.

By no means do I believe Hillary Clinton was a perfect candidate for presidency; however, by absolutely no means was Trump supposed to any better. At the top of the government pyramid sits the reflection of an old America. We have dug out the skeletons of what's left of the American Dream and placed it on an international pedestal for all to see. We remind our fellow nations that we are a great country, but that argument is drowned out by the images of rusty, fractured bones that lay in a heap in a confused disarray. Americans, we fail to accept that this America that many of us have once loved is now only a dream, a dream that has passed. It is time to wake up and move on.

I don't believe Trump's victory was out of hatred or discriminatory ideologies. I believe it was out of two simple things: curiosity and fear.

Americans were curious on Nov 8th. Curious to see what might happen if we did elect a politically-outspoken conservative that rebels fervently against political correctness and the expected political candidate image. Curious to see what positives and negatives would come of a Republican candidate in a critical time for globalization. Curious to test out the fill in the blank option with "Harambe." Curious to see if our actions really do become reality.

And that curiosity remains. Perhaps it will forever haunt us. However, it has been filled with more fear than ever before.

America feared moving away from known past models that have succeeded, like the Reagan administration. America feared the globalized world that connects us with a foreignness that we simply couldn't bring ourselves to trust quite yet. America feared the election of a female president that didn't release her emails to the public and defended a rapist in court. Yet, we elected a rapist ourselves.

America fears change.

The world fears change.

ISIS proves to be a great threat to the international community, especially those with Western influences. Human instinct told us to protect and guard and shield out the dangers of our world. Therefore, I have reason to believe that this election, this presidential term, is a natural reaction. It is a reaction to our greatest fear, safety. However, safety has never been more than just a settlement for America. And Americans don't settle. We fought for equality and justice. We fought for the underdog. We fought for children, women, LGBTQ+ persons, refugees. We fought for moral reasons. We, therefore, will recover from this natural instinct to shrink back and we will fight again.

This election is the beginning of inevitable social change that will come. It is the beginning of the fact that we will have to face these challenges by being vulnerable and open and accepting of difference.

America is scared. America needs time.

I understand.

But please remember that this fear will never go away if we seclude ourselves. This fear will never be rid of until we can build from the past and move on. This fear will continue to reside in us as long as we idealize the past and fail to recognize that the future will never look identical.

America was great.

America is great.

America will be great again.

Unless we allow these bones to represent us, to haunt us.

So to those that were once hopeful and have now allowed fear to define your lives today, stay strong. We have no future without a larger picture, without an insurmountable sense of hope. Please understand that there is no end all, be all. Baby steps are the cause of great changes, many of which we can seen today. Live across time. Live across generations. You will see this amazing change, a slow-moving giant leading the march up ahead.

It will happen.

We'll make it happen.