Why Love When You Can Hate?
I don’t know how many words there are in the dictionary but I’ll take a guess at, a lot!
In human society and in language, we love an opposite… How many can you name?
Black/White, Man/Woman, Gay/Straight, Conservative/Liberal, Believer/Non Believer, Capitalist/Communist, Drinker/Non Drinker, Faithful/Unfaithful…. oh, and Love/Hate.
I Love Money, but I hate Capitalists; I Love Men but I Hate Women; I Love Drinking but I hate Drugs
We can’t help loving something but hating something else… I Love Broccoli but I Hate Peas. I Love Garlic but I Hate Chilli. I Love Books but I Hate Television. I Love my Religion but I Hate Yours. I Love my Country but I Hate Yours. I Love my Father but I Hate my Mother.
Love and Hate works on so many levels, from the innocuous Love and Hate regarding certain vegetables to the destructive Love and Hate regarding religions, and countries. Let’s face it, these two words are the most dangerous four letter words in the world – for they create division; they create polar opposites, and in human terms that has the potential to create great conflict.
In The Natural Mind, Waking Up, I discuss this at length with the reader, trying to understand why such extremism is beneficial to the human experience, and how it has possibly helped in our constant evolution.
Let’s imagine for a second that Andrew and Amelia are sitting down to dinner. Amelia has prepared a nice meal for Andrew as she knows he”s had a hard day at work…
Andrew: What the F*** is this? You know I hate well done steak!
Amelia: Oh, I’m really sorry, I’ve been busy all day too you know!
Andrew: Jesus Amelia, all I want is a decent meal when I come home, I don’t expect to be eating this Sh**!
Amelia: I didn’t do it on purpose! If you want a rare steak then maybe you should try cooking it yourself!
Andrew: I bring in all the money here, I pay for everything, your job doesn’t even cover the bills, let alone the mortgage. I’ve had a hard a day at work, I shouldn’t have to cook when I get home.
Amelia; (crying) I hate you Andrew, you are so cruel to me; I love you, but sometimes I hate you so so much.
Andrew: Yeah? F*** you, you stupid B****
Anyone recognise this story? Extreme example or not? Possibly, but it shows how important words are and how we use them. Be careful, and recognise that from our words come consequences….