I am learning.

I am learning to listen to opinions that I do not entirely share. I was bad at it before. I felt so intensely emotional when politics came up in conversation, or online or on the news that I had to switch off. It made me bubble up inside with anger and despair and I didn't have room for it. If someone had a different opinion I didn't want to know. It felt irrational, and I never quite understood it, but I didn't have time to question or challenge it.

Now I do have time, and I am learning not only to listen but to love. I am learning tolerance and acceptance. I am learning the flaws and problems on my own side of the argument. I am learning to question and challenge not just what others think but what I think. I am learning that love is far greater, far more important than what someone casually thinks about the means of achieving equality.

I am learning that my opinions are valid but not static. I am learning that it is okay to feel intensely and okay to need to switch off but that it is never okay to shut down. I am learning that listening and talking and compassion and empathy wherever possible is the way forward and if that cannot be achieved something is going wrong.

I am learning and I am loving and it is good.