Sensitivity

In this world we live in, certain paradigms are firmly set--views I believe to be wrong. One of the most erroneous of these beliefs is that crying is weakness. Tears do not show weakness. The ability to cry stems from one of the greatest powers of all, the power to feel. True cowardice is shown when one cannot make one's self vulnerable. So often, though, sensitivity is portrayed as being childish or as a purely feminine concept. A person is decried as a "wimp" if they can't sit through scenes of blood and gore and explicit brutality without wincing or showing their humanity. It goes further. If someone is emotionally touched by anything, they are ridiculed, especially if they're a boy. It's a slippery slope. The end result we're approaching? A callous culture with a casual approach to violence and horror.

This is one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a society. When the cruelties of the past become passe, what then prevents them from being repeated? If events like the Holocaust became, not horrific, but commonplace, the concept of humanity loses its meaning. Our capacity for emotion is one of the things that sets us apart as a species. Without it, we are nothing but animals. Some would advocate this, it seems--they want us reduced to bestial instincts.

But we can keep our nobility as a race. We can keep our ability to feel. We can allow ourselves to cry, to show emotions that expose our vulnerabilities and joys. Emotion lets us more fully understand each other. There is nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve.

Of course, feigned emotion is worse than apathy. Putting on an emotional facade for attention is detestable. A show of emotion is pointless and deceptive. It causes pain for all parties involved.

Emotion is honesty. It is the true universal language. Learn to speak it.