It never ceases to amaze me how fear can motivate people to do most things. These things can be good or bad. but in the end they are all a product of fear. The year 2016 in the election process, in my head, is the year of fear. This will forever be ingrained in my my mind as the moment that people voted not for what they believed in, but against what they feared.

Moving past this election, I can only hope that we learn as a country from the experience. I can only hope that we move in the right directions and fight the battles that are worth fighting to better our world and not cause more controversy. I can only hope. As the future of this country, yes I do fear for us. I don't fear for us because of who was elected, I fear for us because of our inability to learn and stop repeating history.

Never in my entire life have I claimed to know everything and never will I due to the fact that it is impossible. I know less about you than you know about yourself. This fact seems so obvious but at the same time it is overlooked. We are afraid of ourselves and each other. We are afraid to ask before we accuse. We are afraid to admit fault out of looking weak. We are afraid of not meeting expectations that others assign to us. We. Are. Afraid.

Instead, I want to ask you to look your neighbor in the eye and treat them as exactly that, your neighbor. I want you to not be afraid of what you don't know and ask for clarity. It is only through understanding the mindset and story of another that we can create compromise. Compromise is part of living with others on this planet. Whether you think they are a "racist" or a "lesbo feminist" is of no interest to me. One thing that I can tell you everyone is, is a person. Everyone is a person first. Everyone fears, dreams, breathes, grieves, loves, and so much more. These are the things that we should remember when speaking to one another. Remember this, and you will fear less and learn to love more.