For The Ones Who Think They Care Too Deeply
The world needs more people like you.
There’s a memory from my early twenties that will forever linger in my brain.
I was home from graduate school, and at my parents, and reeling from heartache. It was the I can’t stop crying/I don’t want to eat/the world feels like it’s ending kind of despair. I felt as if part of my soul was missing. I felt as if my heart would never be able to mend.
I also felt like a fool for believing in the love I thought I had, for being kind, for trusting, for caring for this person.
And so, through my tears, I told my Dad, “I’m such an idiot for caring. Next time, I’ll be stronger. Next time, I won’t care as much.”
My Dad, in his infinite wisdom, looked at me and said, “I really hope you don’t do that. Part of what makes you such a wonderful, beautiful human is that you do care — you care a lot. And that’s something you should never try to rid yourself of.”
It’s easy to try to tell ourselves not to care.
It’s easy to want to try and prevent ourselves from getting hurt and burned and brokenhearted.
It’s easy to attempt to close yourself off from hurt, to steel yourself against loving and caring and feeling.
