Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the current state of our society and just how disconnected everyone seems to be from each other. I had to remove all social media last week because I was extremely disturbed at how people are so quick to attack others for literally anything. We often forget that these people we're cursing at are just like us. They hurt like us. They love like us. And, they hate like us. Hatred is the hubris of mankind, but where does it come from? Why are we able to hate someone that we've never even met with, joked with, sat down to have a meal with? No organism on earth can love like us, but I can also guarantee that no organism can hate like us.

Now you might ask me, "What if someone did vile things to your family or abused you?" This is a great question and I'm glad you're asking it because this is something I think about whenever I reflect on this topic. Hatred towards someone who wronged you in such a way is Newtonian in essence, but a lot deeper than that. I have observed two types of hatred throughout my life, the first of which I just explained — vengeful hatred. And the second is what this whole blog post is about in the first place — simple hatred.

Simple hatred feels like it should almost be an oxymoron. To hate is to feel — and to feel is to be complex — and to be complex is to not be simple. Here's a real life example to help clarify. I recently saw an interaction on the subway between a young female student and another middle aged woman whom she bumped into. If you've ever been on the subway, then you've more likely than not bumped into someone. This woman proceeded to curse and get extremely aggressive — to the point where she actually threatened the young girl's life by telling her "she's about to see God in a minute." Now, upon hearing this, the first thing I thought of was — is that necessary? Maybe it was to her, but why? The woman could have easily asked her nicely to just be careful. For some reason, we as humans struggle with treating people with kindness, especially if we feel like we've been wronged or are having a bad day.

Sometimes it feels so much easier to just lash out at someone else, but why? Why do we feel the need to make someone else feel bad just because we're having a bad day? I think it stems from a lack of compassion, an inability to put ourselves in others' shoes. We often forget that everyone is fighting their own battles, and we have no idea what someone else is going through. This is why I believe that simple hatred is so dangerous. It's easy to hate someone for no reason, but it's much harder to love someone for no reason. I also struggle with always choosing love, especially after a long day and all I want to do is be alone, but it's in these moments where it is the most important to choose love, because that person that bumped into you on the subway may have just lost their job that day, or they may be having the best day of their lives. Regardless, we should choose what is best for our souls, and that is love. Be the change you want to see.