@wolfwoman One of my favorite quotes from Orwell, but I'd like to ask him, aren't those the same thing?
If you truly understand someone can you hate them?
Yes, sadly.
@AskTheDevil @NiveusLepus @wolfwoman A loved one who has made extremely destructive decisions.
@poemblaze @AskTheDevil @NiveusLepus My little brother committed suicide when he was 38 and that is the single worst thing in my life. I was beyond furious and cussed him out for months. But hate? No.
My MAGA family members? No. I cut some of them from my life but no hate.
@wolfwoman @poemblaze @NiveusLepus To be fair, I've probably known a lot more people than most people have, and I've also deliberately put myself close to some of the worst ones, because of the nature of what I do.
I've only ever really hated a handful of times, and only when I really did get to understand the person deeply.
@AskTheDevil Interesting. I don't really hate anyone, at present. @wolfwoman @NiveusLepus
@poemblaze @wolfwoman @NiveusLepus When I finally realize that what I am feeling is hate, it really catches me off guard. It's not something I seek out, and I don't like it. I don't like being a person who feels or expresses hatred, and I don't like being exposed to things for which my body can find no other emotion with which to interpret it.
@AskTheDevil @poemblaze @NiveusLepus That is fascinating to me (BA in Psych, want fries with that?) I wonder if I have felt hatred in the past but didn't recognize it. I can't recall anything. I had a *very* quick and hot temper which often resulted in a violent action on my part. I had to, and did, learn to control that - perhaps in a furious moment, I felt hate. No idea! Then again, from a fairly young age I was taught something very similar to the maxim "hate the sinner, not the sin".
@wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze Hatred, I think, is a complicated emotion. Once it is recognized it can be decided upon.
Feelings are, but so is will. The question is, what to do about it?
Hatred is a natural response I think, to certain kinds of experience, but ultimately its a consuming force. I've heard it said its like drinking poison and expecting ones enemy to die.
I think its because it roots us back to a toxic event.
Pardon me while I ramble and wander through this. ^_^
@NiveusLepus @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
No rambling here. I have same experiences. Hatred is truly a choice. No one can impose it upon us.
@LnzyHou @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
I've encountered many teachings lately about store consciousness. How there are seeds of all mental states and emotions within us. Mindfulness, hatred, anger, compassion, etc.
Attention/engagement is like fertilizer for them, but even without that, they will still arise for a variety of reasons.
The "trick" is to respond to each state with an attitude of love and healing for oneself.
@LnzyHou @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
"Hello my hatred. I see you there, Im going to sit with you mindfully to understand you and heal you."
No judgement, no shame, just awareness, and then action and choice.
Feelings are, but so our are decisions about those feelings.
@NiveusLepus @LnzyHou @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
I occurred to me recently that the opposite of love is not hatred, but fear.
Of course, fear in denial can mask itself as hatred.
I could be wrong, but it was an interesting way to think about it :)
@ceorl @NiveusLepus @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
Absolutely true for me. My behavior, often over the top, was based in fear.
Therapy helped me see that.
@LnzyHou @ceorl @wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, hatred leads to the dark side of the force." - Yoda
There's some real wisdom there, I think.
That said, I've been finding a lot of peace in looking at feelings in a non dualistic way. Much like ceorl is talking about, oppisities, but not good or evil.
They simply are. With our judgements come pain. With our awareness and acceptance of them (Not indulgence) I think comes healing.
@NiveusLepus @LnzyHou @ceorl @AskTheDevil @poemblaze
Yoda had so many wise words. This one is right up there with "Do or do not - there is no try" for me.
@wolfwoman @NiveusLepus @LnzyHou @ceorl @poemblaze
Unfortunately, the most common way I see that quote being used is as a substitute for "pull yourself up by your bootstraps".
@AskTheDevil @wolfwoman @LnzyHou @ceorl @poemblaze An unfortunate interpretation from my perspective. None of us exist alone, or independently of one another. We are all inter being. Life is an interconnected web of perspective and experience.
There really is no me, without all of you. Physics bares this out in that observance on a particle level is necessary for existence.
@NiveusLepus @AskTheDevil @wolfwoman @LnzyHou @ceorl @poemblaze
Spawned from a psychologist. I have understanding of how some people are evil because of their history. Have a lit of compassion. But still can hate those that knowingly inflict pain on others. I don't regret hating true evil. Only that I can't fix it.