Being Human

"Because it’s okay to feel things. And be who you are about them."

I re-read The Perks of Being a Wallflower today and that line really stuck out to me. It's one of my favourite books and it even has a movie adaptation that does the book justice. I've rewatched the movie a lot but it's no longer available on Netflix for me so I decided to re-read the book.

The first time I read it I finished in a single night. It's a short book but it's still amazing how easily you get sucked into the world and the pages disappear. I've always related to the main character in the book but as with most things, as you get older you relate to different things.

This line meant a lot to me to read today. It felt like it vindicated my decision to go back to something I've consumed multiple times already. In the past few weeks, I've been feeling a lot of emotions. I've written probably thousands of words but most are too personal and too honest to share. Through most of it though I've been wishing I could not have these emotional responses. Most of them are illogical, exaggerated, and plainly false. But they feel real.

A lot of self-improvement techniques require having an objective look of things. You want to be better, so you learn to filter the emotions out and think rationally. In most cases it's useful. But there are times when the irrational thoughts are so powerful you just can't help it. Even though you'd like to be better, you're still trapped with the shackles of being human.

That line made me accept it's okay. Being occasionally irrational and emotional is part of being human. It's okay to feel things. It's okay to have a human reaction even if you strive to be better. Maybe being better doesn't require getting rid of our human shackles. Maybe you just need to accept it and be honest about your existence.