Face Value

Am I the only one irked by the phrase "everybody feels that way"? If you're nodding your head right now and thinking I'm insane then feel free to completely disregard everything I'm about to say - I won't hold a grudge. But I'll continue anyway, because I'd like to know if anyone else agrees with me. If you're like me, then you've heard "everybody feels that way" about as many times as you've walked by your family with two cookies in your hand and six stuffed in your pockets.
Just me? Fine.

But on a more serious note, I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one with this point of view. For most of my life, my feelings have been brushed off by that simple phrase more times than I can count. Now, don't get me wrong - I know the people who say it mean well. Unfortunately, I tend to see it as a quick way to close a conversation rather than a heartfelt response.

Source: https://images.google.com/

It makes me think of when I'm watching a movie with my family and I offhandedly comment about how I don't like a certain character (the character that sticks out in my mind is Monday from Premium Rush - great movie), and without skipping  a beat someone responds with, "Well you're not supposed to like him/her." That's great, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have that view of the character.

My opinion isn't invalid just because everyone else shares it - similar to how my feelings aren't invalid just because everyone else apparently feels the same way. No one sees the world through my eyes; no one wakes up in my body every morning. The same goes for you. No one cries through your eyes, or thinks with your brain. We are each our own person, and I think we need to focus not on the whole world, but on our value as individuals. The more I hear "everybody feels that way," the more impersonal it becomes, and the more I start to resent my own mind.

When I was in sixth grade, I was obsessed with setting myself apart. Granted, I would give anything to be able to burn the memory of sixth-grade-me, (and anyone who knew me back then is cringing right now, I can feel it). But even I have to admit I had the guts to be different, and I think I could work on that nowadays (maybe not to that extreme, but still).

I can only speak for myself, but I think that if we spent more time praising ourselves as unique individuals, then we wouldn't have to spend so much time insisting that just because "everybody feels that way," what we feel must not be anything to worry about too much. Of course it is.
Because without our emotions, we wouldn't be who we are.

If you have any questions or comments (or you just want to talk - which I'm totally up for anytime) then you can email me.