By Micah Steffens
A while ago, I was talking to someone, and they had told me that they believe that anger is the rawest emotion a person can have. While I can see their opinion and would agree that it is a very raw emotion, I personally believe that it is not THE strongest. There is one more emotion that would fit the “raw” human emotions, and I believe that sadness is tied with anger on this list. But not the kind of sadness that you get because some restaurant is closed or some show is ending, the kind involving true loss. “Despair” might be a better word, but I think that it is a little too specific. Sadness fits this better anyway.
Everyone experiences loss. Someone passes away and the people close to them are typically sad by it (or happy, depending on the person). That sadness from the loss of a person is one not typically felt every day. While it does hurt to lose someone, there is something beautiful about being able to care so deeply about a person to where it hurts so much to lose them. That feeling isn’t restricted to the death of close ones either. Broken friendships, breakups, and the like are all times where one could feel such a deep sadness. To be so vulnerable in the kind of mental state you have after such loss is one that everyone should be grateful for. I know that’s probably an odd thing to think, “thankful” to feel like such crap, but it isn’t every day that you feel such a range of emotions. Those are feelings you really only feel once in a while, and most likely forget about after those sad emotions settle and float away.
A moment in my life that made me grasp this was one of my birthdays, I’d like to say it was when I turned 11. On this very fine and bright September day, I had a funeral to attend. Horrible birthday gift from my great grandma (bless her soul), but with that, as depressing, and quite frankly annoying as that was, I also realized how nice it was to be able to mourn someone. I was able to know and love someone so much, I was sad over losing them, which in my opinion is a very moving experience. It is completely different from just being sad about something. The feeling that comes with loss is one where I believe is the perfect feeling of no return. There will never be that person who passed away, a relationship with that one person, or a friendship like the one you may have had with someone. It will never come back. It’s horrible and truly sad, yet beautiful that it was a true once in a lifetime experience, and your own experience at that, not one felt by everyone. People may share the same feelings, but you can never have the same experience being close with another human being as someone else may have had.
Although we all hate the pain of losing someone or something, it’s a pain that should also be appreciated, because it’s a beautiful sign of love and heartbreak, and one of the most powerful experiences one could have. You only live once, wouldn’t you want to know the range of your own emotions?
Micah Steffens is a Fillmore Central High School student, one of 10 area students participating in the Journal Writing Project, now in its 27th year.
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