15 Under 15 Feature 36

 Sorry for getting 15 under 15 out so late today. As some of you may know, I live in Florida, which has been home to several serious atrocities over the past week. It's been weighing on my heart and mind heavily, and I haven't been feeling as though much light would ever shine through.  I have several close friends that frequent Pulse and it hit home a little too close.  It's left me feeling unsafe and unsure of everything.  Seeing so many close friends mark "safe" on Facebook after the event felt like a surreal nightmare that I hope I never have to go through again.  I am lucky nobody I knew was injured or killed in the shooting, but I don't feel lucky.  So many bright and beautiful people had their lives ended too early, and seeing the reactions from friends finding out a loved one was lost was almost more than I could handle. As somebody who is very open-minded to all races, sexual orientations, and the like, seeing some of the reactions was sickening in a way that I can't even put into words. I quickly had to focus on the beautiful people we lost because focusing on the shooter or the people who saw the event positively was heartbreaking and only made me feel an intense hatred. And I think that at this moment, we need to not focus on that hate, we need to focus on love because hate won't leave us feeling anything but broken.  And with that being said, I hope you enjoy this week's 15 under 15.  It's not themed (it never is), but seeing beautiful art makes me feel a little hope in what has becomes a sadly dark world.