hate
Pronunciation: ‘hAt
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hete; akin to Old High German haz hate, Greek kEdos care
1 a : intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury b : extreme dislike or antipathy : LOATHING
2 : an object of hatred

The word “hate” is an old Viking word. It referenced spirits that inhabited the living and made them do stupid things. It’s invoked in The Thirteenth Warrior: “a hate from the old days.”

I’ve spent the majority of my adult life trying to control my own hate. It possessed me a long time ago — during Catholic school. It gets the better of me. I’ve given it a name. “The Wick.” A name I stole from something Ryan D. said a long time ago.

My hate is a powerful spirit. When it takes hold of me, there’s little I can do against it. I’ve studied many different mediation techniques, trying to get hold of it. I’ve been successful on some occassions, less successful on others.

It comes from my father’s side of the family. The tall, blond, blue-eyed side. From my mother’s side of the family, I have the Irish temper. The Irish don’t have a word for that. It’s just “being Irish.” They’re like that, my mother’s side of the family.

There’s a lot of hate in my life right now. In America. Lots of hate.
I can’t be around it. It’s suffocating. I’m drowning in it.

The best thing to get rid of hate? Hugs. Lots of them. Hate can’t fight hugs. It has no weapons.

And so, I give you all hugs to fight our hates.

I hope that’s enough.