Look around there are too many of us crying And not enough love to go around What a waste, another day Another good one dying But I know that the world will change The day we know we’re all the same Why can’t we just get along? If loving one another’s wrong Then how are we supposed to Get close to each other? We gotta make that change, yeah Why can’t we just get along?

I’m a big fan of Charlie Puth and his catchy tunes. But this one especially rang true on the day my social media feeds were filled with the news about the Atlanta shooting, and the resulting calls of many to #stophate. Ironically enough, the posts that I saw did not focus on extending sympathy to the victims, but instead on rage and blame – hate only bred more hate.

Nothing can ever justify a crime like that experienced by the victims and their families in Atlanta. Or anywhere else for that matter. But the path of rage and wrath and vengefulness is a slippery slope. More hate doesn’t stop crimes. Only love does. Love paves the way to change for the better, and love helps us realize how similar we all are. We have to stop focusing on our differences, because in our very core, we are the same. We are all human beings – beautifully flawed but also incredibly resilient. We are brave and we are powerful – in our words and in our actions. Let us treat life like icebreakers – let us find our common ground and start from there… and perhaps, one day, we will wake up maybe not to a perfect world, but at least a better one.