Don’t tell me it’s not that serious

because actually, it is

At some point there was a world where people didn’t just express themselves, they did it unapologetically and sincerely. Regular people wrote five-page love letters, and we were able to slam the phone in someone’s ear when we were pissed off. We were expressive.

Today, everyone is so afraid of being hurt or embarrassed, we’ve devolved into a society where everyone wants to prove they care less than the next.

Unfortunately (jk, very fortunately!) I’m not built like that. My emotions speak to me both loudly and urgently; I couldn’t ignore them if I tried. So, I don’t try. I sit and have iced coffee dates with them, we take long walks together to my favorite playlists, and I listen to what they have to say, without fear or shame, even when those feelings are indeed scary and shameful.

And I honestly think that it’s helped me exist in a healthier, more emotionally balanced inner world. That in turn helps me better navigate in the chaos that is our collective outer world. I need to know myself— how I think, what frustrates me, what delights me, what scares me and what motivates me. I consider this to be my most important task and I know that it will probably take me the rest of life. But it is so worthwhile, because understanding myself more deeply makes me a better friend/daughter/partner/sibling/coworker/human being. And if that’s all I am during this short time we have on earth, I think that’s ok.

Somewhere along the line expressing emotions became taboo; a sign of weakness. And what a predicament that is for everyone involved because, baby, feelings are meant to flow. You do your soul a disservice by letting them rot inside of you, all because someone, somewhere told “it’s not that serious.”

Actually, it is. No one gets to determine the weight with which you hold your own feelings. If it matters to you, then it matters. That’s it. That’s the tweet.

So I’m hoping to use this space to explore and excavate mine a bit more plainly. I think the beauty of the human experience is that we’re all often going through the same things. My hope is that this makes you feel a little more seen, and more importantly it makes you feel like you have the permission (not that you need it—it is in fact your God-given right!) to feel your feelings as much and as often as you need to, as well.