You Don’t Have To Be Female To Fucking Feel Things

This is me.

This is my day.

This is how I feel.

This is what happens when I say goodbye to someone I love I won’t see for a while, and this face is how I define the thoughts I think inside.

This is me after boarding a bus in a cold grey station, alone and emotional.

This is me a few hours back with pain in my eyes and a desire to capture the fresh hurt in my heart, to remember today, to celebrate an occasion where life felt alive again, a moment when every ache sang in a unique and beautiful way.

This rant is me now, a few hours later and a few drinks down, posting a protest to thousands of strangers, a manifesto of sorts for more open exchanges.

This is me using my voice to raise a few questions and to ask aloud the things I wonder about.

This is me wondering why I’ve never seen a man post a picture like this, flooded eyelids, a raw image of realness, calmness after a storm.

This is me wondering why it’s okay to post joy and bliss and fun, but not acceptable to condone the other side of the emotional spectrum.

This is me standing up for sadness.

This is me defending my darkness and this is me raising a fist in the air for all of the things I feel.

All of the things I feel.

All of the things.

This is me reminding myself that life isn’t always easy, and that’s okay.

This is me saying that it’s fine to cry, and it’s good to feel, and it’s wonderful and beautiful and reasonable to experience the world in all of its ridiculous and surprising shades, the dark and the light, the sunset and sunrise.

This is me shouting, “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE FEMALE TO FUCKING FEEL THINGS!”

It’s okay to ache, it’s okay to wish things were different or better or easier, and it’s okay to feel pain.

Most importantly, this is me whispering that it’s okay to not feel okay, and so I say softly, “It’s okay to not feel okay.”

It’s okay to not feel okay.

And besides, tomorrow is a new battle to wage, a fresh war to fight for, and tears tear down walls that stop life staying away.

And there is so much life yet to make.

So much life yet to make.

This is how I feel.

This is my day.

This is me.