Something transformative happened to me at the eclipse. Sleeping on the ground for three days in Central Oregon among a crowd of strangers waiting for the sun to disappear and becoming close friends in the meantime has made me realize how much we have lost from the severe polarization and division that has befallen us.

I long for bonding with my fellow countrymen. We cannot be great, or even survive, divided. We have had a few moments in our history when we were truly united: hard, dangerous times that threatened our existence, but united our souls.

I fear it will take a tragedy to bring us back together. Americans unite in tragedy and stray into contentious political ideology in good times.

Hatred of each other will lead to national destruction. I think that each of us must confront the hatred in ourselves to see if we can overcome it, see if we can engage with those we detest and cool our passion to destroy each other.

The eclipse opened a door for me to remember the power of unity.

— Lawrence Dean