2015 was nothing short of inspiring, shocking, devastating -- and everything in between. This year, contributors to The Huffington Post published thousands of blogs, offering their perspectives on topics ranging from LGBT rights to gun violence to body image.
In no particular order, here are some of our most talked-about blogs from 2015. We can't wait to see what our ever-expanding roster of bloggers have in store for 2016.
Lexi Herrick
"Love when it's difficult. Cry when you need to. Reach out when someone closes the door. Open your heart, even if it feels terrifying to do so."
Johann Hari
"The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection."
John Metta
"White people are in a position of power in this country because of racism. The question is: Are they brave enough to use that power to speak against the system that gave it to them?"
Anthony D. Romero
"Our country is stronger because of the energy and talent that millions of refugees have contributed to it. The suggestion that we should deny sanctuary to those who are fleeing persecution loses sight of this. ... We don't have to give in to hate and fear."
Keith M. Parsons
"At university, learning is your job -- and yours alone. My job is to lead you to the fountain of knowledge. Whether you drink deeply or only gargle is entirely up to you."
Erica Garner
"One year after the failure to indict Daniel Pantaleo for killing my father, all we want is justice. I urge us all to consider what we are fighting for. Is it reform or revolution?"
Cecile Richards
"We know exactly what Planned Parenthood does for millions of people in this country ... and we will not stand for this relentless assault on reproductive health care."
Kristen Lee Costa
"Know that education is a privilege. Education can transform you and allow you to become better equipped for change agency ... Keeping this perspective is vital."
Reid Ewing
"Before seeking to change your face, you should question whether it is your mind that needs fixing."
Barack Obama
"America is at its best when we look out for one another."
Michelle Combs
"One of the best things about getting older is realizing that we don't have to spend our energy worrying what other people think and we get to be comfortable in our own skin with our own freak flags."
Kate Norquay
"If you think you are better than those [McDonald's employees], because you work in retail or organize files as a receptionist, you are wrong."
Ashley Gulla
"Nobody tells you your heart will change. But it does. They should have told me I was going to learn how to love better. That loving this pit bull was going to change my whole life."
Tobias van Schneider
"Removing coffee/caffeine from my diet not only made me more relaxed, I also poop like a king."
Joni Edelman
"Being the child of an addict is complicated, and we can't always verbalize how so. Even if we've had enough therapy to buy our psychiatrist a boat, we still may not even know we are dysfunctional."
Kristen Bell
"As to the benefits of vaccinations, it has been proven; they work. That's enough for me to climb up on a soap box, make some ugly cardboard sign in my garage, and let other mothers know that it's safe, important and bigger than emotion: It's the truth."
Sara Benincasa
"When you have a greater ability to take a human life, you have a greater responsibility to prove your fitness to wield the tools that may create that end."
Gustavo Tanaka
"Silently, people are being woken up and are realizing how crazy it is to live in this society."
Stephanie Wittels Wachs
"There is no end to grief. There's only navigating the way to a new normal."
America Ferrera
"No, Mr. Trump, you may not reduce us to drug dealers and rapists. We are moms and dads, sons and daughters ... we are the future of America."
Linda Thompson
"Our uniqueness, our individuality, and our life experience molds us into fascinating beings. ... We are all in this life together."
Sarah Prager
"Chances are you don't even know that you are holy or royal or magic, but you are. You are part of an adoptive family going back through every generation of human existence."
Carrie Cariello
"I am not a scientist. I am not smart enough for that. But I am a mother. ... Together, we will fill in autism's canvas until a clearer picture comes forward."
C. Robert Gibson
"It's official: Trickle-down economics is bunk. Minnesota has proven it once and for all. If you believe otherwise, you are wrong."
Jenny Studenroth Gerson
"Crying because you're happy is actually a thing, and it's a thing you can't control when you're a mommy and you behold the beauty in your arms."
John Pavlovitz
"Yes, LGBT people are absolutely making a choice. They are choosing to be the most honest, authentic versions of themselves."
Lonnie and Sandy Phillips
"It is unfathomable to me that the billion-dollar gun lobby can intimidate our Congress and some state legislatures into passing laws that give the gun industry immunity against irresponsible acts that enable them to arm, and profit from, domestic terrorists and other killers."
Justin Ricklefs
"Marriage is hard and messy, but also beautiful and redeeming. In the end, love wins. It conquers all."
Gretchen Kelly
"It's the reality of being a woman in our world. It's laughing off sexism because we felt we had no other option."
Samantha Matt
"No matter your size, you should embrace your body and flaunt when you got. After all, thick thighs are strong thighs, and strong IS the new skinny."
Michael Moore
"We are all children of God (or nature or whatever you believe in) ... We are all Muslim. Deal with it."