I love that people are breaking out of their shells. Especially lately, we have so many opportunities to be upset about something and have an opinion. 

• COVID-19 and the type of regulation concerning the virus
• How crappy our health care is or how it could be better
• Defunding and reforming the police
• Black Lives Matter
• Education
• Trump

If there is a time to speak your mind, now is the time. Our society can’t get better if we all keep to ourselves, but please, for the love of God, remember how to be constructive when speaking your mind. You have the right to your voice, but you also have the right and privilege to be able to change your mind. Do you know what happens when people are willing to change their minds? They are finally participating in a constructive and engaged

D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y. 

We feel the need to be right so badly that, sometimes, we just can’t see the wrong in our opinions and claims. And that’s OK. That is such a human thing to do, and no one will blame you for that, but there comes a time — like now — where so much is going on that a consensus of some sort needs to be found. If there isn’t a general consensus in the public about policies that should be enacted, the wrong policies will be pushed through. 

Now, I realize getting the public to agree is a hard feat to accomplish. It’s nearly impossible. But we can’t allow politicians to continue pushing policies that aren’t good for us. Is our democracy as functional as we are? Maybe, but that requires a column of its own. 

When you meet someone, admit it: the first two things we want to know about them is 1) their life story and 2) their opinions about the world. Opinions qualify character to you. It’s a subconscious evaluation. Will we get along? Will we nonchalantly find ourselves in political debates every time we leave the house? Is their opinion staunch or thoughtful?

Even though these opinions verify their character, no one talks about them. At least, not until much later when it matters much less. And even when they do discuss these opinions, no one seems to do anything about them, no matter what they are. Seems like a problem to me. 

Utilizing opinions is essentially implementing a feedback system within our society. We take it, evaluate it and deem it worthy. 

For the next week, I highly encourage you to take a stance on something and publish it on social media or another outlet. Take an opinion. Take a stance. Take a change to make a change for the sake of our country. I believe we do have the power to form our surroundings to a high degree — but I could just be optimistic.