I sat down to brainstorm ideas for my article this week, and the usual ideas flowed into my mind: college, work, family, friends, relationships, among others. I can usually find a good topic under one of these categories, and I have fun writing about my experiences and points of view. However, I felt unable to sit down and genuinely write about these topics which are frivolous in comparison to what's been going on in the world the last few days.

How can I write about school, when a woman my age was raped behind a dumpster at her university, and her attacker is only serving three months in prison?

How can I happily write about my family or friends when Christina Grimmie, a contestant on The Voice, was shot dead for no apparent reason during a meet and greet with her fans?

And how - how - can I sit here and write about every day things like work and relationships and experiences, when today, the only story on the news is the shooting at the Orlando nightclub, Pulse, where at least fifty people have died, and the same number were injured/hospitalized? On top of it being the deadliest shooting in American history, it brings up the issue of hate and intolerance toward the LGBT community still running rampant in our society.

I couldn't just write about anything this week. I couldn't contentedly write a piece about my job or my relationship or my family while these tragedies and issues have consumed my mind; while so many people right now - involved in the stories above or otherwise - are hurting, grieving, scared, and hopeless that people will stop hurting and killing each other senselessly.

Love and compassion are crucial right now. Unity is essential.

Tolerance, acceptance, and peace are the only things that are going to get us to a place of oneness as a species. These hateful, violent, earth-shattering acts will tear us apart if we let them - and that's honestly understandable. People are terrified, certain groups are being targeted, every act like this brings even more loss of trust between people. However right now, we must stand together, show support for victims who need it, pray for grieving families, and show support, understanding, and acceptance to our brothers and sisters, no matter their race, sexual orientation, or status.

Once we realize the oneness of all humans - the fact that I am you, you are me, we are all the same, human beings deserving of love and compassion - we will realize that an act of violence and hatred toward a person or group is an act against all of us. We mustn't turn away and act like it didn't happen just because it didn't happen to us. We must direct our energies toward positivity; though the suspects and convicts in these situations deserve to suffer, let us keep in mind the victims, and direct love and compassion toward them. Direct positivity and peace toward their families, and extend that to people you come across day-to-day. Help people wherever you can. Put yourself in another's shoes and imagine how you'd want to be treated.

It is time we each view the world as "we," not "them versus me."