Your emotion is not a weakness.

For most of my life, I have seen people conceal emotions. In fact, if that were a competition, Nigerians would win a prize. We learn early how to hold things in, how to keep going, how to act like everything is fine even when it isn’t. Crying is discouraged. Complaining is frowned upon. You are expected to endure, adjust, and move on.

I learnt this too. I learnt to minimise what I was feeling, to brush it off, to tell myself it wasn’t that deep. I thought being strong meant not letting things affect me. But pushing feelings aside doesn’t make them disappear. It just teaches you to ignore yourself. And over time, that kind of ignoring starts to cost you.

Your emotion is not a weakness. Feeling is not a failure. It is your mind and body talking to you, asking for care, honesty, and space. You don’t need to harden yourself to survive. You don’t need to earn rest or understanding. You are allowed to feel and still be strong. You are allowed to be soft and still be whole. You are allowed to simply be.

All my love,

-Olamide from MANI