@alokvmenon ❤️ “James Baldwin taught us that people hold onto their hatred because without it they might have to confront their pain. I read that almost 15 years ago, but it only hit me in 2016 (you can read why in this article). This revelation changed my life. All the consternation and ire I’ve received solely on the basis of who I am made sense. This actually had nothing to do with me or what I looked like, this had to do with other people and what they *felt* like. Their hatred to me was an extension of their lack of self acceptance. Which meant it wasn’t my burden to bear. No amount of my discipline, no beauty regiment, no degree, no wordsmithing, no feat would ever be enough to convince people to stop targeting me because this was never about me, it was always about them. Their repression, their grief, their lovelessness, their loneliness, their self-betrayal. Their projection was not my reality. Which meant I got to be free, I got to be happy, I got to be me. Which meant that I found myself having so much compassion for them because they didn’t even know they were mistaking their wounds as mouths: speaking from pain. I understood their outcries for what they were: misdirected pleas for help. When I speak about this people often respond with disbelief. How can you know their hatred comes from their pain? The proof is in the priorities. We have a finite amount of time on this planet in this life. And you’re going to waste your time hating me, demonizing entire groups of strangers, when you could be playing Mario Kart or having a picnic or taking a nap? You are going to spend millions of dollars to dispossess us of our rights instead of investing in a more sustainable and beautiful planet to nourish your life and your family? Ultimately you do not think that your time is worth peace, dignity, joy, leisure. That your life is worth...life. I am so sorry! I love you! And I’m rooting for your healing!”