The Window of the Soul

We try to hide our feelings.

No one would understand the various layers that make us, us.

On a mission to keep the dark parts hidden because those are the parts that broke us.

Those are the parts that if anyone knew, they wouldn’t hang around much longer.

If they did, those are the parts they would certainly use to break us again.

We hide all of the small details about ourselves.

The small things that excite us. Our fears. Our dreams.

The intrusive thoughts that keep us up at night.

The small details would be silly to someone else.

We avoid them to avoid being the standing joke.

Other times, we keep feelings to ourselves because we can’t find the right words to describe them to someone else.

We become so paranoid that someone may reveal a detail about us beyond what's on the surface, that we keep our eyes pointed down.

Eye contact can reveal so much about a person.

It’s one of those moments where it feels like time stops.

Eye contact can be a comfort tool with the right person.

It can be the single thing that keeps us calm in a room full of people.

It can be our way to communicate when we don’t have the words.

A way to allow someone to feel what we are feeling.

It can be validation and confidence when we are feeling small.

It can ground you and quiet all of the unwanted thoughts.

A nonverbal greeting for someone to know the parts of you that you keep secret.

It can also be terrifying.

It can be a straight shot into someone's soul.

Everything that a person has been through, all of the pain that they have suffered.

A window bringing it all to the surface, revealing everything.

Every part of them that they have tried so hard to camouflage, is now front and center.

Leaving them vulnerable, bare, and feeling completely invaded.

We avoid it.

Closing the door to the soul and the parts of us that we fear anyone seeing.