Don't be afraid to feel. Fear is never strength.

There are a lot of people in this world who seem, on some level, afraid of their own emotions. They mask them with sarcasm, irony, logic, substance abuse, denial, or some other form of distraction.

I am one of those people, and it’s silly. Why are we, as a culture, so ashamed to feel? What’s weak about crying? Emotions are the very thing that give power to all we do. The more emotion you can poignantly convey when you create, the more powerful and moving your creation. The more emotion you feel in a touch, or when you look out over a stunning natural vista, or greatest of all when you see the sun dapple on a weed in gravel and suddenly understand that it’s marvelous, the more you understand about life and the more you appreciate it.

The ability to feel strongly is a gift. Don’t hold back.