I can't express how insignificant you are to my life....(mom, skip over this post if you're reading)

Dear Blog Diary,

I genuinely dislike the words “haters.”

It’s far too dismissive, as if to say “if someone disagrees or dislikes what I’m doing, they’re a hater.” Branded as this negative big mouth who pops off at the gums irrationally and is ultimately working through some inner conflict like jealousy or self-hate. That’s just bullshit homie.

I’ll quote the fantastic Chicago rapper turned actor, Common, and say “If I don’t like it, I don’t like it. That don’t mean that I’m hating.”

Chances are, that negative comment has a point. Chances are, that negative commenter is relatively level headed emotionally. They just have a critique on something and maybe you don’t like the truth: you’re not special and not everything you do/are is great.

However, I will pose the question: Do you know the opposite of love?

It’s not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. You want to know how you know that you don’t love Bobby or Sally from 8th grade? Because you don’t care, don’t think about him/her, haven’t in years, and the thought of them with someone else occupies your brain about as much as thoughts of whatever Germany is going to do now that Merkel is stepping down. Indifference is when you know you don’t hate or love someone.

Don’t feed into other’s feeling is significance and importance. There’s a finite number of things and people that you can truly care about. Keep the list short and nurture that list to the one millionth degree.

Cheers,

Eric