One of the biggest issues I have as a writer is coming up with enough different ideas to reflect upon or topics to discuss. Seeing as how this is my blog and I can publish anything to my heart’s content, there are no true guidelines or restrictions, but I do set some barriers in my subconscious. I try not to make content repetitive or tiresome. I try to make my work easy to read and interesting to read while still holding true to my verbose, metaphor-laden writing style.

This blog is overflowing with reflections on love and emotions. Each one is honest and unique, my goal being able to relate to my readers. It is human nature to feel, and that’s part of the reason why I started this blog.

I first began writing on this blog as an outlet for myself and for people to possibly relate to the way I was feeling or thinking. It turns out that many people do, but it just also happens to be that many others do not.

It never occurred to me that it was possible for some people not to be in touch with their emotions. Not only that, but that there are so many people who willingly avoid how they’re feeling. There is no outlet. They let everything build up inside them until there is no more room and everything just floods out at once. I would say that is an unhealthy practice, but that’s only because I have difficulty relating to someone completely opposite me emotionally.

That’s a topic I’ve reflected on for quite some time recently. Why are some people so afraid to feel that they don’t even expose their true self to the world?

In my mind being vulnerable is showing strength. Allowing others inside to see how deep your scars go is how we grow as people. Hurt will come; pain is inevitable, but the more you feel the stronger you will be. That’s my way of thinking, though.

Some people live their lives without exposing who they really are. Their entire existence is a façade, their true identity boarded up and barricaded under layers of thick skin. Their definition of strength might be hiding any sign of emotions. If they push any hurt they feel so far into the depths of themselves, maybe even they won’t be able to find it.

These are the logical people, it seems, in my experiences with people. The people that try more than anything to avoid their feelings are the ones who take a logical approach towards life in general. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a logic-oriented person. The decisions I make are hinged on emotions, as one could infer from reading any blog post on this site. I don’t fear pain, but I welcome it.

There is a disconnect here, though. It is extremely difficult for me to comprehend the refusal to feel that some people possess. I understand that each person walking this earth is inherently different from the others, but feeling is what makes us human.

Pain hurts, I get that much, but I am of the opinion and the mindset that avoiding it only prevents closure and enhances the pain. I wrote this piece not only to appeal to those who are scared to put their emotions on the table, but in an attempt to understand why outside of avoiding pain. Why is avoidance your go-to method of coping? Does it work?