I know you are, but what am I?

I learned early on in blogging that people can be ruthless. Those who tout “love and accept all” have often been the most harsh and hurtful to me.

It doesn’t bother me like it used to since:
1. If I’m going to state my opinion on social media, I better be able to take the backlash
2. I believe hurt people hurt people, and those who spew hate the most are often the most hurt
3. For every negative, destructive comment, there are a hundred more who agree and feel like they don’t have the voice or the platform to share their thoughts.

It’s mind-boggling to me that in a culture that has begun to vocally celebrate women and “girl power,” it is women who said all of the above to me and are often the most vengeful with their words.

Women (and girls), we can agree to disagree. We can have completely different philosophies and still be friends. We can find each others’ viewpoints repugnant, but still value each other as human beings. We can debate issues, even heatedly, and sit down and have coffee together. We can have the same goals but different ways of getting there.

If you disagree with me, I encourage a dialogue. And if at the end of that dialogue we still disagree, let’s just go have coffee and connect on a human level and talk about things that really don’t matter, like what kind of chocolate is best or what book we’re reading, or what Netflix show we’re binge-watching. Because at the end of the day, relationship is the most important thing, and it’s the thing we should care about most.