Feelings Aren't Meant To Be Fixed

Recently I was talking to a friend who said something along the lines of: "I know I shouldn't feel this way." And all I could think was, 'Should?' At what point should we feel anything at all? Aren't feelings the one thing in our lives we shouldn't have to control?

Of course, there is a point when our feelings can spiral into something destructive and some certainly have an appropriate time and place... But to what end are we supposed to hold them in? And why do we always feel this impulse to apologize for anything short of the brightest of outlooks? Don't the worst, most complicated feelings teach us something important about ourselves?

To me, feelings aren't meant to be fixed. They're meant to be wallowed in, reveled in, indulged to their fullest--both the good and the bad. Feelings don't ask for a solution; they ask for understanding. Empathy. Acceptance.

This is simple. And yet, of course, it's not.

Still, I say: Feel. We owe ourselves that much, don't we?

Morning Musings

If you're anything like me, there's a lot of things you find yourself missing.

Maybe you miss past friends, past homes, or past moments. Maybe it's a childhood neighbor or a city you visited once. Well, whatever it is, all that missing we're doing means we're ignoring what's right in front of us. It means we're passing over new people and places and memories worthy of missing someday.

'Missing' itself is a funny word, though, isn't it? The meaning of the word can be used in many forms. As an adjective, it can mean lost or gone or misplaced. It can mean absent, lacking, wanting. As a verb, 'miss' can mean failing to catch or screwing up. It can mean failing to attend, letting slip, evading. Sometimes, too, it means to yearn, ache, or long for.

Well, whatever you're missing...whether it's because it's lost or absent, or because you screwed up, or because someone else screwed up, or because you're simply aching for it, try to remember that in missing it, you're also missing something else. You're missing an opportunity for a new, different sort of chance, a different adventure... possibly even a better one.