Today's post will be a short one. Like probably none of my usual bullet points. Not sure if I'll catch all of the typos. I feel like the goal is to say what I want to say...or say what I need to say and then just grab a melatonin and hit the pillow. Today is election day. If you live in America, you know that this day is either the culmination of some of the most divisive, mudslinging, trash-talking, fear-mongering, race-baiting ugliness, or it's a continuation. And that is only if you believe the perspective of the mainstream media.
Everyone hates everyone and people with differences can't coexist. Even domestic pets vs. city strays have decided to pick a side lol.
As funny as it sounds, it's also a bit draining. The truth is, all people are not monoliths. You can't lump an entire group of people into a specific category, or a mindset. Today's post has one goal and that is to hopefully encourage my readers to remember to be human. Remember to be kind. Of course, we all have differences. Those go deeper than skin color and language. But we also have things that bind us together and make us kindred. Most of us are bound by the common thought of family, faith, friendship (the Fs were not intentional). But we all have some sort of values or beliefs that guide us and mold us. For most of us, those values and beliefs don't infringe upon anyone else's. We all feel pain and will experience loss. We all know joy on some level and if only once, we've experienced absolute peace. Each and every one of us can share in the human experience. Hanging out on your front porch to watch a sunset, or seeing a sunrise on your drive into work (or on a beach in the Caribbean). Most of us can find commonalities in things like, remembering what it was like to be afraid of the dark or jumping in your parents' bed during a late-night thunderstorm. And the feeling of Christmas morning or waking up to the first snowfall. These moments and experiences don't belong to any particular group, demographic, race, or gender. It's all of us. Any one of us. It belongs to all of us. This is what separates humanity from everything else. Experiences. Moments. Memories. Emotions. Laughter. Tears. Wins. Losses. Joys. Pains.
So...tonight my prayer is that we would all remember who and what we are. And how it binds us together. May your life be full of all of this. Surrounded by love and not dictated by what the media tries to sell you. Remember that you, me, us, them, all of us. We are more. More than a summation on the nightly news. We are more.
As always, these are my thoughts.
~ratedpg.