You Will Be Hated
A concept that I have struggled with for nearly the entirety of my time as a young adult so far is the concept of being left alone. Not necessarily in the sense of loneliness, but rather, the ability to be alone. Now, let’s get this straight- I live my life with someone. Nearly all of my time is spent with someone. I chose to share my life with Sarah and our dog, Jasper. But in reality, they are the only people I truly enjoy being around all the time. That is specifically due to the fact that Sarah and I share the key trait of not being able to deeply annoy the shit out of one another, but I’d like that fact clearly stated as what I am referring to here is that while I write about being “alone,” I am not fully alone.
As it has been mulled over by the great American thinkers and writers of the past, our ability to be distanced from one another physically, especially in the sense of being able to be left alone in the wilderness is being continually threatened. One generation after another, it is hard to go somewhere “wild” on the North American continent and not see another person, or let alone even the evidence of another. One cannot even venture into the deepest slot canyons of the San Rafael Swell of Utah without witnessing a cheetos bag wrapper jammed into some deep crevice by the continental forces of wind and water. With the continually increasing nature of being so close to one another, there is a concept that I have become startlingly aware of: hating one another.
Hear me out, I do not believe in hate per say. Systematic hate, racism, and typefied systems of oppression are wrong. They are perpetuated by the ignorant in an effort to feel a sense of false power over one another. They are purely ideals and systems of thinking encouraged by the stupid. Yet, it should be encouraged to understand that there are simply going to be people out in our world that will not like you, or you will find no good feelings for them. In the simplest of terms, I have come to the conclusion that “you will be hated.”
This idea that I have presented sounds vile, I know, but it is not without reason. Unfortunately the truth, and the logical truth more so for that matter, is uncomfortable to hear. In the past and varied histories of humanity we have had room to wander and avoid one another. In the times of today, that ability is being very quickly lost. Whether it be with good reason, or none at all, humans will find displeasure and disapproval in one another for the most grievous and trivial of reasons. We are animals. Perhaps someone’s pheromones knock your subconscious into a sense of violent fervor. As long as you do not kill that person on the spot, you are still entitled to not find their presence fulfilling. Individuals find my existence to be unfortunate for reasons both within and beyond my control. Regardless, I cannot change their feelings by my own effort alone, and the life that I pursue is mine and mine alone, so why bother to stress on what they think? That is not to suggest that life is complete without the opinions of others, and mentorship still remains wholly a gift, but there will be people out there that will not like you and if they hold no meaning to your life, why bother what they think?
This is an idea I believe should be perpetuated more within the mountain sports community, especially that of climbing. Us climbers are an utterly fickle bunch, complete with our animalistic shows of dominance. I can only imagine what Yosemite in the “golden age” would have been like, with many of the Stonemasters flaunting their victories almost as if peacocks in heat. That is not to say that what the community decides as a whole is not important, but sometimes it is dumb. Some ideas need to be rejected, and sometimes two people, or two groups of people for that matter will simply just not like each other. Acceptance can only happen just so much before concrete decisions must be made to pave the path into the future. 5.15d was not pioneered by people that spent their time pining over the opinions of others. At that rate, Adam Ondra would still be working his way through YouTube comments.
Understand that the world is both extremely large, and with the onset of the modern age, extremely small all the same. Live your life the way that you want to, and try to leave others alone. We’re all in this together, but we each make our own decisions. People will love you, people will like you, and some people may just hate you.
Spend your time wisely.
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