You only live once, right?

What exactly constitutes a regret? What exactly makes a life worth living, time well spent and actions worth sharing?

I like to say I have "no regrets", and in a sense, this is a true statement. I live for the fact that everything I have ever done was done with some sort of intention. If I did it, then I had to have wanted to do it, right? Does that make me selfish? Not in every sense. Of course I've done things I haven't wanted to, my altruistic moments for the people I care for, and the ones that have touched my heart. Even then, the action may not be my greatest desire, but my affection for them is. My ability to give myself to them in some way is my desire, to show them that I care and that I love them is such a great desire of mine.

Now to this "You only live once", or YOLO fad. Honestly, I don't totally hate it. Yes, I hate the acronym for it, and the lack of originality that comes along with it. But at the core of this phrase, there is truth. There lies our hearts desires, craving for adventure, spontaneity and the idea that this life is all we have, why waste it? And to that idea, I say "YOLO". I say it to the nights where all I want to do is drive to the airport and sit and watch people from all over the world pour into Atlanta. To the kisses shared with boys who have captured my eyes, my mind and even my heart. To the hours spent living through the eyes of a character in a favorite, much read book. To the nights of tv-watching, late night talks, early mornings cups of coffee and the trips to cities miles away on school nights. Am I living this way everyday? No, I'm not. I'm responsible in my actions, but in my thoughts and innermost desires, I am adventurous, spontaneous and unimaginably unsettled in all my ways.

The war on emotion: feelings as a sign of craziness and vulnerability

I'm an avid tumblr, and an avid advice giver. I find that when I'm reading someones blog post or letting a friend vent to me I seem to find them apologizing for getting emotional, or for expressing how they feel. They feel ashamed of their fear, haunted by their sadness and scared of their vulnerability. Everyone has emotions, and everyone should be allowed to feel how they feel, and even more so express how they feel and share it with those they care for. But recently this line has been drawn, especially in my generation, that only a certain amount of feeling is acceptable and beyond that you're irrational or crazy, unstable and incompatible. 

How sad is that though for our generation? That girls today are pushed into thinking that their feelings make them weak, and that their own vulnerability makes them undesirable and incapable of being accepted by those around them. I know for myself that I am incredibly passionate in all that I do. I dive in heart first to everything I do, therefore making myself vulnerable. And I've been hurt so many times do this, and yes, it hurts. But do I regret being passionate, do I regret the love I have for people and those around me simply due to the fear of being hurt again? No, I will continue to be passionate. I will probably also continue to set up walls, walls that I build to protect my heart while still allowing myself to be vulnerable to those that really deserve my heart. 

I know I'm going off on a little bit of a tangent here, but what I wanted to get at here is that emotions are real, and powerful and life changing. Where would we be without them?