My parents always complain to me about this generation’s apparent “obsession with communication”. You know, the whole rant about how they had to “use carrier pigeons to send hand-written letters to each other across the ungarnished terrain of the countryside” or whatever. But, they do have a point. We have so many types of social media accounts to communicate through, so many DMs to slide into. However, I have recently noticed that although we have so many ways to communicate with one another, so many of us have problems talking about things that truly matter, such as our feelings. Sure, a “like” on a girl’s Instagram photo means that you think she’s pretty, but how do you FEEL about her?
I, for one, am probably the absolute worst person in the universe when it comes to communication. And I wish that was an exaggeration. Sure, I could win an Olympic medal if communicating about my opinions was a sport (especially when I’m almost certain that I’m right). But when it comes to my emotions? Not so much. I tend to not answer the phone for days at a time; I silently mope about serious issues within my life, and I have dramatic outbursts about insignificant events that won’t even matter the next morning.
Ultimately, I am learning how to express how I feel without feeling guilty for having emotions. I understand that it’s okay to be angry and sad and aggravated with the world. However, whenever I try to tell anyone about the feelings bottled up inside of my soul, I automatically feel as though I am a bother to them. Immediately, I translate their lack of understanding to apathy and shut down as a result, telling people to “not worry about it” and ensuring that its “fine”.
The world would be such a better and easier place if we—especially me—were all straight and honest with each other all the time. When someone does something that leaves you crying on your bedroom floor for an entire night, we shouldn’t just say “Oh, it’s fine. I’m not upset”, just to spare their feelings. To work together, we must learn how to communicate our emotions through dialogue, not through emojis and the latest Snapchat photo filters.
Conversation nowadays is littered with filler phrases such as “It’s fine”, “No worries”, and “It doesn’t matter”. But, it’s not fine and how people feel does matter. People can only create effective and strong relationships if we learn to care about express our emotions properly in a healthy way. Being vulnerable is frightening, but it really is okay. It’s time to recognize the opportunity lying beneath the fears of rejection and failure in order to move forward and develop better, more dedicated relationships with the people in our lives.
I hope to soon be able to voice my emotions and thoughts eating away at my brain without feeling guilty. And I hope the same for everyone else around me.
