So where do we go from here? The school shootings, the CDC shooting, the assassination of Melissa Hortman and now Charlie Kirk. Can we stop now? Kirk was hoist by his own petard, speaking against gun control, saying, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year…” No. It’s not. So are we there yet? Can we stop now? It’s time to woke up, to stop the divisiveness, the hate. It’s time to stop listening to the noise, the influencers, the hate peddlers. Why must we begrudge and feel threatened by others’ success? Why can’t we find common ground: at our kids’ soccer games, at the grocery checkout line, walking the dog, sitting on neighboring stoops, at the gym? Why can’t we talk to each other IRL, instead of feeding off a screen or an echo chamber? Eye contact. Nuance. Chit chat. Listen. Something in common. No politics. Just day-to-day stuff. How ya doing? Go Birds! We need to remind ourselves that we all probably want the same thing, to live our lives, no harm done. How can we do that if we can’t connect on the ground and find ways to accept (even like?) each other? Sort out disagreements civilly? Show some generosity of spirit? Benefit of the doubt? Live and let live? Ditch the politics, turn off the screen, go outside, look, listen, find ways to get along. Think for ourselves. Breathe. The violent divisive rhetoric from this administration and its messengers is tearing us apart. It’s killing us. We have to start somewhere, where better than with all of us, right here, right now? Love your neighbor. Love the stranger as yourself. Woke. The heck. Up.