I sometimes think we as humans, have an inflated sense of self-importance. Maybe I should say we as a generation.... I say this not to be critical of my age group, but as call to action. We have become so accustom to our technology that I believe a portion of our humanity has been digitized and stored away in some folder. We are quick to judge others, we hide our true faces, and we say what we think before we think about it. It is easy to say things behind a screen that we wouldn't be brave enough to say in person. And we hurt people.

We have forgotten what it is to be people. We have let our time segregate us. We have been forced to hear and see the extremists of our time, constantly skewing our view of humanity, losing every shred of faith we once had in each other. We have become fearful, and I will not argue that it isn't justified. We live in a time of acceptable darkness. We have become desensitized to the horrors of the world because everyday we are exposed to it through our endless media platforms. Yet we have let fear strip of us of our concern for others.

I understand the fear. I do because I feel it. I feel the tensions in my community. I understand the differences that we share, but I truly feel like we are ignoring our similarities. We ignore the fact that we are all human beings with the same needs. The same needs. Regardless of race, sex, gender, thoughts, beliefs, class, language, regardless of everything. We all need food, water, and shelter. We all need a community, kindness, and grace.

So I make a plea, a call for love. To respect one another. We are blessed with the right to have our own opinion and the right to express those opinions. I beg you to see opinions as exactly what they are: opinions. We are all allowed to have them, and no one is right or wrong.

I was once told in my english class after I stood up stubborn and said that I don't care to hear something someone was saying, and my teacher roasted me. She said, "Emily the mark of a truly intelligent mind is the ability to entertain and idea without accepting it." She wounded my pride, but she was right.

This isn't a political statement. This is a human statement. We live in an unforgiving world. Yet if we can show love to one another, then we will make it. If we listen to one another, respect one another, and learn from each other, we will make the world a better, safer, happier place to live. That is the future I dream of, and I feel like I am not alone. It starts with you. So as Ellen would say, "Be kind to be one another."