What comes next? How about our neglected unity?

For me, like so many Americans, the last six months have been a whirlwind of emotions, as arguably the most historic election in our nation’s history built momentum, intensified and eventually reached a climax on election night. While I’m not here to share my opinion on the outcome, the big question facing every citizen and resident of our country is: What next?

It can be tempting to see the outcome of the election as the ultimate refutation of the left — proof that Americans have rejected progressive values and policies and have wholeheartedly embraced modern Trumpist conservatism.

While there may be some truth to this, I believe that what the result ultimately showed was that Americans are afraid. Afraid of economic disaster, afraid of global conflict, afraid of violence at home.

These are reasonable fears. Even for the many Americans who lived through the final throes of the Cold War or watched the twin towers fall on Sept. 11, 2001, our country has never seemed more like a powder keg ready to explode.

Which is why, now more than ever, we need to come together not just as liberals and conservatives, but as Americans. The United States has always been strongest when we’ve been united, and our darkest moments come when we turn on one another and lay blame at our neighbors’ doorsteps.

As Abraham Lincoln famously said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” and those words are as true today as they were 166 years ago.

While conservatives may claim, rightly or wrongly, that progressives are softhearted dopes who focus on issues that don’t matter to real Americans, progressives may claim, rightly or wrongly, that conservatives are coldhearted dopes who focus on issues that don’t matter to real Americans.

Perspective is everything, and trying to work together and understand not only what our differences are, but also why they exist, is the quintessential heart of the American experiment.

The intersection of our political and social culture has always been an uneasy compromise. This extends to everything from political rivals being forced to work together in government — such as when Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson collaborated to create our financial system while simultaneously establishing Washington, D.C., as the nation’s capital — to having uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinners with relatives who have radically different political values.

The idea that people who disagree politically could do so without resorting to violence is what separated our country from nearly all others when we declared our independence. It is one of the most sacred responsibilities that we as Americans must honor and hold dear, or risk losing the dream of a more just, more equitable society as envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

So while it’s easy to feel emotional following this election, remember that we need to heal the nation’s wounds, not worsen them. Think next time before you gloat to a “bleeding heart liberal” about winning the election — or calling every conservative voter you know a fascist. Are you really saying it because you believe it, or because emotions are running high and you feel like you need to show the world how strongly you hold your beliefs?

In the days after the Sept. 11 attacks, my father was in California, desperately trying to get back home to my family.

With all flights grounded, he and a friend rented a car and tried to make a cross-country drive.

Running on fumes on a remote stretch of highway, they came to a gas station that, unfortunately, was out of business. Stranded and worried about their loved ones, my dad and his friend were lucky enough to be found by some locals in a pickup truck. The saviors had a spare five-gallon tank of gas for the dirt bikes in the bed of the truck.

My dad always talked about how, while thanking them, he explained how and his friend were New Yorkers trying to get home to their families. Without missing a beat, one of the men responded, “We’re all New Yorkers today.”

That is what makes America great, not rhetoric or political stunts or moral grandstanding. And that is what we need to keep hold of in the aftermath of this election: that no matter what, we are all Americans, and that we’re all stronger when we work together.

Will Sheeline is an editor covering Glen Head, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay and Sea Cliff. Comments? WSheeline@liherald.com.