Impactful Friends

This thought struck me tonight.  When we finish senior year in May, and we all graduate, it is going to be terribly hard to say goodbye to those who have become my closest friends.  I don't mean to get all sentimental, (I will save that for graduation) but I may never see these people again.  I mean, I really hope I will.  But knowing that over time we all change, I am afraid that our interests will shift and we will no longer be as close. 

Even the idea of going through my life without them terrifies me.  These people who I have known for so long, have literally changed my life.  They have been there through the thick and thin and we have formed a deep connection.  They are like the strings on a guitar.  They have impacted my life so significantly that I fear I will never be the same without them. 

And then I realize, even if we all go seperate ways, if we never see each other again, their actions and friendship will always remain.  The music of the guitar will still linger and the song will be remembered even if the guitar no longer plays.  

In some sense, they never actually leave. 

So as we approach Thanksgiving, I truly want to thank every single one these people whom I have had, and still do have, the privilege to know.  Some of these people have left their mark with only a simple smile, compliment, or kind gesture.  Others who I have made a deeper connection with (whether they know it or not) have changed the course of events in my life, the way I see the world, and so much more.

Thank you!

Honesty in Emotion

It is truly depressing that we cannot express ourselves.

If we show too much emotion in public, we are the weirdos and the freaks in society.  Even from a young age I'm sure we all knew there was that one kid in class who would cry at just about everything.  Some of the bolder kids would call him a cry-baby. 

But let me ask you this: what do we find so terrible about expressing our emotions?

Emotions are natural. Shouldn't we be able to express ourselves without fear of rejection? I do not mean to say that we should be allowed to endanger other people's lives by expressing our anger and flipping tables.  But namely sadness.  What is so bad about sadness?  I would say society expects us to maintain a bold, perfect face in life, and only show happiness. Happiness and perfection are the great ideals in life.  But shouldn't it be socially acceptable to be sad? We all feel sad or depressed sometimes.  And I can tell you from experience that bottling it down so that no body can see it is not healthy.  Nor is it honest.  Is it not a blatant lie to smile and say "I'm doing great!" when you are really ready to shatter?

But if we consider it, society expects lies and deceit in other forms too.  We are expected to meet certain standards of beauty.  We are told that if we hide the way we really look that we will somehow be "better".  This is not good or healthy either.

So why, if it is not healthy or honest, do we hide how we really feel? I believe that if we instead chose to be blatantly honest with our friends, family, and relationships, we could avoid a lot of the conflict that happens.   So much confusion is caused by a person who hides their true feelings or who sugar coats a morsel of it so as not to be offensive to others.  In my experience, this has lead to the destruction of friendships which otherwise could have been fixed with pure honesty.