Emotions. We all have them; sadness, joy, anger, fear, disgust, etc. They are the roots of what it means to be human, the embodiment of compassion and creativity. So why do we choose to ignore them? Why does society teach us to suppress them?
When I was a little girl, I was the biggest drama queen on the planet. I made a big fuss about the smallest things. I spoke my feelings and opinions, especially when I wasn’t asked to. When I felt happy, it was obvious how content and excited I was, and when I felt sad, I cried all the time. But I lived so much. I have to thank my Mom for that, though. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have tried half the things I did when I was a kid.
Anything that seemed too scary for me ended up being one hundred times better than the things that just seemed fun and that’s what life should be about, stepping outside of your comfort zone.
As I got older, I became more afraid of trying anything that could inflict any sort of emotional or physical consequence on me. I was scared of rejection, scared of disappointment, heartbreak, etc. But now I realize that the experiences and moments that I had where I learned the most and remember the best were the times where I let myself embrace and confront my fears.
I went parachuting over an ocean, went on a mission trip to a third-world country, took the initiative to tell a boy that I liked him, sang in front of a big audience, put three classical piano pieces together and showed the results of that project in front of my class, applied to a school way out of my league and even read a personal poem out loud to one person. I did all of these things outside my comfort zone; though I was scared for my life, I made the best memories out of them.
It's the chill running down your spine before that massive leap, it's your stomach twisting into a billion knots before saying those three words, it's your heart slowing down its beat and your eyes letting out an ocean as you feel that first heartbreak, it's your jaw and your fists clenching together as you let the terrible news hit you.
Embrace your fears; love deeply, allow yourself to feel because that’s how we become stronger, that’s how we create our stories.
