Let Them Eat Hate
Marie Antoinette died on October 16 of 1793 at the hands of the guillotine following the French Revolution. During her tenure as Queen of France, rumors spread of Marie as promiscuous, shrewd, pompous, and traitorous. During her trial, she and her defense were given one day to prepare despite a fate predetermined by her detractors. She was sentenced to death and while being bound and subjected to jeers from strangers, she maintained her composure. Her final words were, “Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Je ne l’ai pas fait exprès.” The last thing she said before her head was cut off was an apology to her executioner for stepping on his shoe.
Now think about the times you apologized to the people who were still going to put your head on the chopping block like it was their job. Sometimes that’s the essence of others. They don’t know why, they heard a thing from someone who saw a thing from someone who read a thing from someone who doesn’t care anymore, and yet put energy into making things harder for you. No one among us is perfect. Comedian Don D.C. Curry said, “if we going to the pearly gates based on everything we did in life, it’s gonna be lonely in that motherfucker.” Our expectation from others comes at the price of hiding our own faults. We can never be sure as to how we would handle any and every situation others are placed in and yet we find ourselves placing the most judgment when they come out through the other side. It’s human nature to want to belong and to feel the need to jump on a bandwagon, especially one that causes someone else strife, but a true super power is minding your own business.
On the other side, when we are met with hate or the discovery of someone’s lack of fondness towards us, we zero in on it. So often we’ve seen comedians, musicians, actors, and other artists play into the negativity and criticism as opposed to the voices that tell them they like their work and what they’ve accomplished. I’m guilty of this myself, frantically searching through comments to see the bad as much as the good. The thing is, negativity is bound to the fingers of those that can’t achieve. I know my journey, my growth, my struggles, and my gains- they don’t. I can try and tell them, I can try and show them, I can apologize but their mind is set on cutting my head off. So let’s not give them the energy that they crave. Let’s not give them the desire of a severed head that they can display. Whether you work in an office and you have that gossipy coworker or you’re an artist who digs through to see what a person said about you to their 230 followers- fuck them, let them eat hate. They want to go to bed being angry at something they can’t control- your life. Don’t give them the time, the energy, or the mental space that they don’t deserve. If you know your truth, your heart, your desires, your work, and your past then it’s not up for anyone else to decide or debate your fate. You take control. Do not allow someone’s perception of your past to navigate how you’re feeling in the present or how you should being moving towards the future. Marie Antoinette went out with poise in the midst of hate. She wasn’t perfect and it’s safe to assume the executioner didn’t feel like the best person in the world. When our time comes to meet our maker, we have to remember how often in the digital age we had a mask on and an axe in our grasp, ready to strike down with force for the strife of somebody else. When we unmask, we have to face ourselves and that’s the hardest thing to execute.