On the Subject of Love vs. Hate
Wednesday, June 15, 2016There is a time in everyone's life when they wake up full to bursting with the feeling that is love. You love the life sleeping next to you, the feel of soft sheets on bare skin, the touch of velvet dog ears and the viewing of pups chasing each other in the yard.
You wake up with this beautiful thing called love engulfing you and then find out an hour later that a terrible tragedy occurred in the same state you used to visit your grandmother in. All of a sudden prepositions at the end of sentences don't matter, the Sunday coffee doesn't matter, the velvet ears feel coarse on the tips of your fingers. While the love you woke with is still so beautiful and raw, you can only focus on how any one human could focus his time on hate long enough to kill dozens of people. Why, when you have felt love kicking like milk brimming in a toddler's tumbler, do you suddenly feel a sickness in the pit of your stomach? Why are you allowed so much joy when others have their joy ripped away prematurely, all in the name of hate?
You begin to feel guilty for your love, much like a child with a box of chocolates who learns there are other children in the world who don't have full stomachs, let alone have ever tasted the smooth finish of caramel slithering on a wet tongue. You don't know what to do - to pray, to sing, to go for a walk. Everything lovely seems a little less lovely when you are faced with hate.
But you must never feel guilty for love. You must only spread it all around like a bird shielding her young from a hurricane with her giant wingspan. In the times of hate, it is important, more than ever, to focus on love.
I feel the emphasis must be added again. Never feel guilty for love. In times of hate, love more. Feel more. Trust more. Do something nice for someone, whether it's donating a monetary good, a sliver of time, or something near and dear to your heart. Let your pain become a channel for all that is light and good in this world. Do anything to make someone know they are loved, especially in the pandemonium of a horrific tragedy.
Love is the only thing that can conquer hate. Because it's the only thing that really matters.
So get out there and love. Love your partner. Love you neighbor. Love your dog. Love your tech support guy. Love your postal worker and love who delivers your pizza.
Just fucking love.
Stay Beautiful,
XOXO Liz
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