"There's so many things that require pain. Sometimes, one can only appreciate what's worth appreciating after having lost it all, oh so many times. [..] There's nothing quite like receiving someone's energy, goodwill, smile, time; while also knowing how much it hurt when those same things, you gave but others did not reciprocate...

There's so many things that require tears. Empathy is a gift and a curse. Feeling others' pain and sadness, loneliness or need for support, and appreciating how sometimes no one was there when you needed it. [..] Offering a helping hand, expecting nothing in return. Showing someone you're interested, telling them you want to spend time with them, while at the same time wishing [that] other times, others would have expressed those same things, in those same ways, to you...

There's so many things that will hurt you. And taking the risk, placing your heart, your most cherished feelings, for someone to pick on, to possibly destroy, is the ultimate test of bravery and willpower. The ultimate surrender. Allowing your hand to be burnt on purpose, to feel that heat searing voluntarily on your skin, but choosing to do it, to remain quiet... I guess that's what being true to oneself really is about.

There's so many ways to heal that pain, to prevent that hurt, to dry those tears... If only we wouldn't play games, needn't wear masks, and just said and showed what was inside. I wish we would all be on ecstasy all day, every day. The barriers, destroyed; the boundaries, lovingly communicated; the feelings, listened and acknowledged with respect and maturity. It would be so easy to let go. To accept. To understand. Not in that order, of course..."