I try my best to stay off of social media or out of the opinionated zones for many reasons. One being that when confronted with ignorant people I tend to get extremely frustrated and lets just say I don’t handle that frustration all too well. This past week however has been filled with me staying as “neutral” as possible and I have just had enough. I have been blasted for my beliefs, I have been suspected of voting for a specific candidate based off of my appearance, and I have been made uncomfortable to not agree with the majority of those whom surround me.

The Wednesday following the election was a day that brought many people smiles and excitement for change, but for a lot of the people who surround me it brought tears. Being a part of the art community here at Texas State I saw so many tears and so many more frustrations. I can safely say that I sat through my only class on that Wednesday uncomfortable to open my mouth and to even attempt to voice my opinion on the matter because I knew that I was the only one and I wanted to be respectful of my fellow comrades grief. I was the only one who was’t crying when I found out that Donald Trump, a former TV-star, would be the next President of The United States. I can’t start praising him, nor bashing him because honestly. I did not vote.

I am one of those people. The ones who did not find either candidate worthy of my ballot. I knew that the tragedy would be that in the end one would get the gig, but I would not be apart of that team cheering one or the other towards the finish line. I would not pick a lesser of the two evils. I just couldn’t.

As the acceptance for me wasn’t that hard to comply with I found myself looking at those around me much more and I was shocked by the people who just did’t accept it. I get that so many of the people I personally know were like “Lol, He’s not my President”, but then that saying became something I have seen repetitively since Tuesday the 8th. Not My President on posters, t-shirts, twitter, Facebook ,and even subtly on Instagram posts. I get it. You may not have wanted this out come or voted this direction, but just because this isn’t quite what you wanted doesn’t mean you have the right to turn you head, to revolt against it. No. Not acceptable. I refuse to accept that as an action. I am a strong believer in the concept of what Gandhi says “Be the change you wish to see in the World”. Which in this case means don’t turn you cheek on this situation or protest blindly with a casual response to what is happening in the world around you. Now is not the time to protest hate, which as of right now I have seen very little of. Now is not the time to endorse Hillary, she said it herself in her concession “But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power”. Now is not the time to claim that he is not your President because he will soon be. It is now that we all must be willing to see it just how it is and we as a NATION must be okay with.

We must move past this protest and onto this pathway to change. To exit from this presidential conversation for just one second I would urge you look at famous quotes that have to do with change. Look it up on google and go threw a few of them. It has become a daily practice of mine to check these quotes out. I keep it up on my safari regularly and while some are a little bit of what I would post on my Facebook back in Jr. High some are the words that have pulled me through some of the helplessness I’ve been feeling. My heart hurts for those who are worried and scared and my heart yearns for those who want change because honestly thats all I want too. With what we have been given the greatest thing we can do to go about creating that change will be to create a more productive society. To not tear down because or ethnicity, culture, race, age, disability and/or ability. We must cheer on each other to success and to positively enrich the lives of those around us. It is now that as a society we must not dwell on what has happened and what has been said. In order to find change we must first find equality, hope, and peace and carry it on our shoulders until it can begin to walk on its own.