"Boy, why are you crying?"

Emotions.

A child falls- tears are shed, a joke is told- laughs are had, lights turn out- a scream erupts.

As with all things, to every action there is a reaction. In these cases, are these emotions or are they conditioned responses?

As a child, when you fall and cry- mommy picks you up, scratches your back and gives you a cookie. Is that pain? Saddness? Hurt? Maybe. A hearty laugh at a joke can create the atmosphere you desire, get you friends, get you a date, lighten a mood, get attention... Was the joke actually funny? Maybe. A scream is often an open invitation for a hand hold, a cuddle buddy, physical contact, a later bedtime... Is it the darkness you are afraid of? Maybe.

From day one we are conditioned to have "appropriate" emotions, or reactions to situations that occur in our lives. We learn what is acceptable and train ourselves to "stay in check" and "pull ourselves together" to match what society has created as a norm or expectation. When the line of acceptability is crossed, one becomes uncomfortable to others and is labeled emotionally unstable.

But really, what is an emotion if it is not unstable? "Stable" grief? joy? anger? I know of no such thing.

It is said that a fairy can hold but one emotion at a time, controlling the fairy completely and leaving it helpless against emotion's raging power within. Well, the same goes for us people... with one small twist. We can house many more than one of these monsters, every nerve in our body absolutely aware of the different ways in which they are being pulled. We are capable of SO MUCH FEELING. And yet, we bottle it up, close it off, ignore it- all to make ourselves fit the incredibly small shadow society has laid down for us.

In this day and age of newfound acceptance, I'd like to introduce another awkward and avoided controversy. Although you may feel completely different than him or her about something, your feelings may be out of control or out of the ordinary, you must allow yourself to feel them. They MUST fill you up, affect every ounce of you, change you... or they aren't genuine.

Why do you think it is that people drink when they are sad? Aside from the desire to forget feelings, consuming alcohol also allows and excuses personal expression. Not only does this prove the avoidance and fear we have of emotion within ourselves, it also proves the judgmental ways of society. It's sickening. We do not need to forget. We do not need to have an excuse. We only need to be encouraged to and accepted for whatever we may be feeling at any given time.

Feel freely and allow others to do so as well,

Cry when your eyes fill and laugh when your heart does.

March to the beat of your heartbeat and your heartbeat alone.

FEEL what ever it is that fills you.