Passion and intensity tend to be frowned upon, so how do the passionate and intense live and thrive?

Hide it, mask it, tone it down. Don’t talk about it, don’t think about it. A head full of everything that hasn’t been said, everything you try not to even think. Yearning to be described as “quiet” and “agreeable” in hopes that will equate to “lovable,” “valued,” “wanted.”

But to hide is to remain unseen, unheard. So while in your head that’s slowly filling up, spilling over, and pouring out everything you’ve never said, you fruitlessly try to mop it all up thinking no one could possibly notice just how hard you are working to keep it all in…. and no one does. Not a soul sees the amount of effort it is taking you just to exist day in and day out. Meanwhile, you’re gasping for air, not sure when you might take that last breath before your brain fills up and drowns you out for good this time.

It might be time to find a lifejacket.