The Image

I always look up to people, especially women that put up a strong front.

It is as though we are expected to put up a strong front. Like falling apart in public isn't generally accepted. But what is the use in that, emotions make you relatable? Emotions make you human? Without great pain and sadness, we would not have the gift of experiencing happiness.

So why must we hide them? I questioned that the other day as I was falling apart, tears frozen to my face in the snow after finding out something particularily devastating. I was walking along the snow, and suddenly I felt as though I really couldn't be alone anymore.

So I gave my friend Frank a call. See, Frank is the type of person that is always there for you, has the greatest advice and amazing perspective. He's also extremely good at cheering a person up. I just wanted to talk, but when he told me that he was coming over, I grew fearful.

I was a wreck! He couldn't see me like this. So I rushed home, threw on jeans and a shirt, and put a hat over my messy hair. I even fixed up the smudges on my make up... and put on a smile when I answered the door.

"If there is one thing you are consistent with, it is remaining calm," Frank told me.

Sometimes I wonder... Am I simply masking the sadness for fear of showing my true feelings, or was I actually over it? I am the type of person that gets over things quite quickly, however at that time I felt as though I was masking them. Holding back the tears because I wasn't comfortable with expressing that sort of weakness.

However, in a way, I was also forgetting about the sadness because he was helping to distract me. I also believe that there is no reason to be really devastated, when you could also be happy.

That was another think Frank admired about me sometimes, "You have the ability to cry, and then laugh,"

Maybe that's because I have healed. Because crying is a healthy way to release the pain, but once it's over you may as well be happy. No point staying depressed forever.

I guess the point is a few things. 1) A Good cry is pretty damn healthy! 2) What's the point of staying depressed forever, when in life you are meant to be happy and 3) Why do we feel the need to mask our feelings, when emotion is only human?