Not to be a downer. I'm just thinking about men. Not
that way,
@DVD! (I could hear you responding across time and space before you even read those words
I'm thinking about the experience of being a man. I just read an article about a survey of men that really struck a chord with me. When they ask men to describe the experience of being male, the words that come out are things like "lonely" and "expectations" and "stress". I know that the experiences of being a woman in the world have to be enormously challenging, and I could never speak to that. But men don't often talk about their feelings, especially the ones that make us feel, well, not like men...if that makes sense?
In general, we're not good at friendships. Not like we were when we were kids. I hold on to those memories so much. We're not good at relationships that aren't based on either humor or sex. We often times don't dare show our real feelings, because it seems like every time we do it freaks everybody out. Does my family honestly think that I'm not scared? Do they think I've just pushed my way through the world not having any regrets? It's all still right here with me. Every disappointment, every rejection, every single loss, every time I wasn't good enough. So when you push me, and I finally show you what I really feel, you have to be ready. A grown man talking about his feelings may as well be a toddler, learning to jump into the pool. You can't ask him to do it and then not be there. If that happens, he'll never jump again - and you'll have earned his silence in the future.
Anyway, long dumb way for me to say I'm grateful for all of you Cyburbians.
Go hug somebody. And don't be afraid to talk about your feelings. Not you though,
@DVD, your feelings are too scary.
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