I fell into the trap after witnessing the U.S. government’s last two presidents harangue each other Thursday night. I filled a page of my journal with anger and despair over what has become of institutions I once respected, and then I sat down to transcribe it for this space.

Thankfully, I paused and realized I had fallen into the trap, then went back to my journal and wrote “Antidote for darkness” instead. And on further reflection, I think I’ll continue in that frame of mind for awhile if you don’t mind.

I posted  “Antidote for darkness” on Facebook with the introduction, “I laid down a good rant about the state of things, but when it came time to post, I figured the world doesn’t need a good rant as much as some encouragement.” And it’s true.

We can snarl and boil over and launch ourselves at the throat of the one who looks or thinks differently than we do. We can believe with all our hearts that those kinds of people and that kind of thinking are evil and ought to be eradicated from the earth.

Or we can turn down the heat and listen to each other, searching for any sign that we have something in common — even if the only thing we can find is that we’re all humans — and begin to understand that sharing the planet, and being civil or even nice to one another, is a better way of living than sniping and snarling and hurting and killing one another.

I am from the “live and let live” school, the “live as you choose as long as you don’t harm others’ ability to live as they choose” school, the “love your neighbors” school, and yes, the “love your enemies” school, because an enemy is also a neighbor.

That does not mean I will not sometimes shout, “War IS the Crime,” or point to some other outrage that can’t be ignored. But I will try to remember that we are all neighbors.