Normalize Emotions: No, You’re Not “Too Much”
Normalize Emotions: No, You’re Not “Too Much”
Ahhh, Emotions—the inconvenient, messy, and deeply human experience we’ve all been told to suppress for the sake of keeping things “comfortable.” You’re sad? Keep it light. You’re angry? Calm down. You’re overwhelmed? Don’t be dramatic. Because nothing terrifies people more than someone actually feeling their feelings in real-time.
But let’s get real: The obsession with only showcasing the pretty, polished emotions is exhausting! We are not robots, despite the fact that society would really prefer us to function like one. It’s time to stop acting like anything outside of “happy” and “fine” is a crime against humanity.
Sadness is not a PR Crisis
Why is it that the second someone expresses sadness, people panic like they’re handling a live grenade? “Oh no, let’s not make this a whole thing.” News flash: Sometimes people feel bad. Not just cute movie tears bad but full-blown “I hate everything, and life is a scam” bad. And that’s okay. It doesn’t mean they’re broken, weak, or in need of a TED Talk on “choosing happiness.” It means they’re human.
Instead of letting people process sadness, we drown them in toxic positivity—that fun little habit of slapping a “just be grateful” sticker over their actual feelings like emotional duct tape. You know the ones:
• “Someone else has it worse.” (So sad, and?)
• “Everything happens for a reason.” (Oh, so there’s a reason my life is imploding and that makes it all better..)
• “Just think positive!” (Ah, yes, let me simply think my way out of my entire nervous system.)
Anger is not a Villain
Nothing makes people more uncomfortable than someone being angry. Heaven forbid you express frustration without immediately apologizing for making people uncomfortable. Society has deemed anger as “unattractive,” “unprofessional,” and my personal favorite, “unnecessary.”
Let me be clear: Anger is necessary. It is a sign something is wrong. It is a natural, valid response to injustice, disrespect, and every single email that could have been a two-minute conversation. But because it’s an inconvenient emotion, we’ve been trained to bottle it up until it explodes at the worst possible moment—probably at a self-checkout machine or during a minor inconvenience like dropping your keys.
Transparency: Let’s Just Say What We Mean
Since when did honesty become a personality flaw? Why do we dance around what we really feel with fake smiles, “I’m fine” responses, and emojis that completely contradict the actual emotional breakdown we’re having?
Imagine a world where people just said what they meant.
• Instead of “No worries if not!”, we say “Actually, this is important to me.”
• Instead of “It’s okay, I understand,” we say “That actually hurt my feelings.”
• Instead of forced small talk, we say “Hey, I’m having a rough day. Do you have the capacity to talk?”
Radical, I know. But transparency shouldn’t be a rare personality trait—it should be the norm. Because pretending to be okay when you’re not is a full-time job with zero benefits.
Final Thoughts: Feel Your Feelings, Even If It Makes Others Uncomfortable
At the end of the day, emotions are not the enemy. Sadness, anger, frustration, and anxiety are not things to be “fixed” or “hidden”—they’re just part of the full-spectrum human experience. You do not exist to make other people comfortable at the expense of your own reality.
So go ahead, be sad. Be angry. Be whatever you actually feel and enjoy the ride.