I'm Only Human

Warning: This post may get a little deep. I am not liable for any tear-stained clothing. Proceed at your own risk.

Truth time. I spent all day going back and forth deciding if I wanted to write this post and publish it. In fact, I wrote two other possible drafts that had nothing to do with what I'm writing now. Why all the indecisiveness? Because there is such a taboo against putting out your feelings on a public forum and I am trying to build an audience, not scare them away. The reality is that same taboo that's resulting in me writing this now.

We tell people all the time to express themselves. Don't bottle in all your emotions, because it's unhealthy. But at the same time, we always tell people," Don't cry." So which is it? We praise those who can put feeling into their art but cringe at public displays of emotion. It may be your party, but you can't cry if you want to. Why is that?

As much as we like to think that we're open and accepting of people's emotions, the harsh truth is that we're not. It's why when we see someone cry, our reflex is to say, "Don't cry," even when it might be the best thing for them. Think about it, when was the last time a friend of yours came to you crying and you just let them? Better still, when was the last time you felt comfortable enough to talk about an emotion that wasn't a positive one? I'll be honest, for me, it's been a while. That's why I'm here.

I write primarily in part because I have all these thoughts in my head. Some positive and some negative. Often I can't talk about them because it's not "appropriate." But they have to go somewhere, so here we are. It doesn't have to be this way. What if we enabled an environment where people were allowed to cry when they feel like crying or be sad when they felt like being sad? What if we allowed people just to feel?

We are humans and emotions are natural. Hopefully one day we get to a point where feelings aren't taboo and voicing them out loud didn't make others uncomfortable. Until then, I'll just keep writing.