We Told You This Was Melodrama

In the continuing conversation of humanity offline and even more so, online, we navigate the highly complex discourse on being too emotional and finally put things into perspective.

- Angelo Ramirez De Cartagena

“Can you set your emotions aside for once?” a colleague sharply tells me as we discussed a matter where we were at opposite spectrums of. This didn’t necessarily shock me, as at this point of my grown-ass life, I’ve heard every possible iteration of “Lighten up, will you?”, “Feelings again?” and my absolute favorite, “Why don’t you shut up and keep these things to yourself.” Who am I to argue or deny the truth? I am highly sensitive, unapologetically emotional and debilitatingly empathic. Yes, I’ve been called out for being too dramatic more than once and I will cry to just about anything. (Between you and me, I bawled while watching the seemingly silent struggle at the cockpit between Diana and Steve Trevor during the final stretch of the film, Wonder Woman. I also may have felt a torrential stream of tears just by scrolling through photos of potential pets for adoption online. Don’t even get me started on my staple of recommended videos on YouTube—all of which may or may not be wedding vow videos.) Clearly, I am not shy about it. In fact, I wear it on my sleeve and when compelled enough, which let’s be honest, is most of the time, I take to detailing my emotional travails online for people to see and hopefully react to.

However, I will admit to being left stunned and silenced by being called out for everyone to hear. Seriously, it is as if acknowledging and verbalizing emotion is antagonized as a downright liability. Right then and there, the dialogue of defense in my head went from a rhythmic tapping of reassured murmurs to a fiery eruption of feelings. “But being emotional is who I am. Why am I supposed to clip it for someone else?” I argued internally. “Also, what is so wrong with expressing it in any way I want?”