Chapter 5 | Expressing Yourself

“Some things are better left unsaid.” This quote had been bugging me ever since I’ve read it. Indeed it is true but what’s behind it? What can you understand about that one sentence? For me, feelings are something that is better left unsaid, but not all times. There are different types of feelings that are better shared to everyone. There are also some types of feelings which should not be known and you tend to hide it. Everyone has a secret or two they tend to hide, right? 

A lot of teens nowadays find it difficult to express themselves directly. So they make new media help them in sharing what they are not able to in person. It is with the help of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I too, admit that I have difficulty dealing with myself; with how I want my feelings to be understood by many but I can’t seem to express them directly. My only way of escape is in RPW (it’s in my entry 2 weeks ago), where people don’t really know me but I get comfortable talking to them. I have a friend whom I call as “Sis” in RPW and I believe that she knows be better than anyone, even my family. I have known her for about 3-4 years I think. She’s very kind and understanding and she’s made me cry several times. Not negatively, but positively. Every time I feel relieve telling about what’s disturbing me, she never fails to cheer me up, and by that I know you she cares about me and I feel so relieved that there is someone like her that cares for me. I just can’t help but feel happy and crying ate the same time. Here’s what she told me after reading my birthday message for her. 

Twitter is my online journal, though I am not that active. I even tweet about nonsense stuff. I can say whatever I want without the need to talk to anyone and not care about what other people will say. I have more freedom in Twitter than in reality; a lot of youth see it that way too, right? Twitter also helps me feel relieve temporarily. And oh! It kind of helps me know trending issues though I do not really care about some of it.

Another social media that helps me express is Instgram. Instagram tends to be my online photo journal. As a multimedia arts student, I want to improve my photography skills and sometimes I just use Instagram to compile my shots. Sometimes I just take picture of things that instantly catch my eye and even take pictures of what I’m currently doing as well. I admit that I am not good at thing of captions for my pictures. Some of the shots I uploaded in Instagram don't have captions explains it. Some of it only had emojis that relates to the photo itself. And sometimes I just let my followers give meaning to what they see in my shots.

Here are some of the pictures taken from my Instagram account.

these pictures are all taken when I was still in Japan

The youth these days also use social media to escape from reality. They also use social media to help them express their feelings which they can't tell anybody directly because they might be afraid of being ignored and being judged by other people. Our society is not cruel, it's the people in it that's cruel. We should not be afraid of sharing what we really feel inside so that people will understand what we want to tell and let them understand what we feel. Of course a lot of us have trust issues but we all have a friend or two whom you can talk to really comfortably, right? I have 3 best friends from high school but I still have difficulty in sharing what's been troubling me because I am afraid of ruining the mood of our conversations because we rarely meet and talk nowadays; I tend to keep it inside me. And sometimes I find it troublesome to share my problems because I am too lazy to type and in person, I am not that much of a straight story teller. I tend to stutter sometimes and can't find the right words to say and if I get distracted for a few seconds I tend to forget what I am telling them. 

Anyway, I just want to tell you that you should not be afraid at expressing yourselves! There are several ways for you to express your thoughts and feelings not just through social media. You can do it drawings or paintings if you're artistically inclined and you could also do it through music. There are several ways which you can decide to that can fit your personality and passion as well!