On Feeling and Being Human

I know of no other organism that shares the human capacity for feeling. People are afraid of that these days. People shy away from it.

Social congregations consist of empty chatter. Popular movies employ comic relief. Anything to avoid diving deep into the depths of one’s soul.

When, on occasion, someone moves against the grain, masterpieces appear. Life changing works of art are created. Wonderful human beings emerge. Beauty and wisdom flourish.

You have likely experienced something like this, albeit rarely. The book that touches your heart. The gaze that pierces straight through you.

Opening oneself up to such depths of feeling takes a person to an entirely different state of existence. There is tenderness. There is love. One becomes quiet inside.

It is a mystery to me why people avoid feeling. I suspect fear is at the heart of it. Unexamined fear, as all fear is.

I suspect that even ego is a defense against feeling.

It is precisely because people shy away from it that it seems fearful. It has become a reactive avoidance, more so than a conscious choice.

Feelings have been classified as “good” and “bad” and are treated as such. People chase the good and run from the bad, failing to realize the catastrophic inner conflict that this creates.

I would caution you at this point not to resolve to feel more. That is just an empty ideal. The truth is, you feel things as much as you allow yourself to.

I will also not tell you that you should open yourself up. “Should” has no place here.

But I will tell you that you will never know beauty until you do. You will never taste all that life has to offer until you do.

A human that does not feel is barely a human at all. Those who feel the depths of their existence have become the kings and queens of the Earth. They inspire people. They suck the marrow out of life.

I can only speak for myself, but I will say with absolute certainty that this is the only way I wish to live.