I decided it was time for me to break my hiatus.

I don’t generally make Capital “S” Statements on this blog, and I feel like there’s a time and a place for it. So, here’s what I’m going to say: I won’t tell you what to believe. I won’t tell you how you should think or who you should talk to or how you should live your life. That’s on you, and most people are set enough in their ways that even if I were to tell you how to exist, you wouldn’t listen to me anyway.

I like to talk and write about topics that I know about, staying in my realm of understanding. With everything going on in the world, I’m trying to understand different points of view, different opinions and different Frames of References (Come on DOWN, communications degree!).

I’m late to the party. I know. Lots of other content creators have come out with their beliefs weeks ago, and it’s been a struggle for me to open up about it to myself and others. But in trying not to compare myself to others, and whatever your beliefs may be, let me give you my thoughts in what’s probably going to be my most incohesive, rambly and important post yet.

First of all, let’s try LISTENING to each other. I don’t mean reading a news source that you know doesn’t align with your beliefs so that you can just say, “this is such bullshit, how can anyone believe this?” I mean, listen to people and what they have to say. Try to understand where they’re coming from and why they believe what they do. Understand their family, their experiences, their religious beliefs and their pasts.

Don’t make a snap judgment. Don’t fall victim to judging people based solely on how they group themselves or how they label themselves, and for God’s sake, don’t label or judge people without even trying to understand where they’re coming from. As humans, we have analytical minds and the ability to think critically, and now is the time for us to use that for good.

Understand that people view the world through their own specific lens. Everyone has inherent bias, and so does every media outlet, social media page and public figure. Don’t be a sheep and follow along “just because.” Educate yourself about the different lenses that people look at the world through, and understand that your lens is not the only one.

And, in that same strain, when you see or read something horrible in the news, don’t just click past it. Read it. The whole thing. Absorb it, and internalize what you learn. Look at the pictures and watch the videos. Listen to first-hand accounts. As someone who works in the news, one of the worst things I believe people can do is surface-level self-educating. Don’t let your opinion be a house of cards, where one debate topples it in a sea of spades and hearts. Let it have roots. Really listen to political figures and celebrities. Read their tweets. Listen to their speeches and their rants and their writings. If someone whose beliefs usually align with yours says something or does something that you don’t agree with, don’t ignore that. Keep all of that information for yourself, so that your own opinions can be informed. It’s possible that someone you always agree with might say something you don’t support, or even the other way around. Maybe there’s a public figure who you disagree with constantly who comes out and says something that might make you go, “huh, that actually makes sense.”

Don’t ignore that. Only sheep and robots follow along mechanically and brainlessly with what “they’ve always done” and are stoutly unwilling to accept disagreement or varying discourse. Don’t just surround yourself with people who always agree with you. An echo chamber is not helpful for forming your own beliefs and educated opinions (see the house of cards metaphor above).

Practice being empathetic. Care about people. Everything that’s going on in the world right now, it’s about humanity. People are dying. People are threatened. People’s rights are being squashed or ignored or minimized.

You should care. It should make you sad. Or upset. Or angry.

Whatever you believe, human lives that are being carelessly tossed aside should bother you. No “well, what abouts” or “yeah, buts” or “why nows” or any of that. You should care, period.

So, was any of that a real cohesive blog post? No, not really. Was any of that what I usually post? No, but I like to post about what I’m feeling. And lately I’ve been trying really, really hard to figure out how I feel about everything going on, and I feel like this is a good start for me.

I’m not usually good at writing about stuff like this. Social commentary generally isn’t my strength, and I know that. I’m better at telling dumb stories about myself and making people laugh. Right now, while there’s always a need for laughs, there’s stuff going on that’s bigger than that, and I feel like it’s my responsibility as someone with a platform to acknowledge it.

Moving forward, I’m challenging myself to care more. Read more. Watch more. Listen more. While I may not be using this blog as a platform to constantly share updates with you about how I’m feeling and my beliefs, just know that I am starting to do something that we should all be doing, which is simply MORE.

Your Kind-of-Late-to-the-Party Servant,

Em