I have this kind of disagreement with my friend, she believes crying is wrong, I, on the other hand, believe it's a good thing. She finds it, I wouldn't say disgusting, but maybe unappealing. I don't see it like that, for me it's beautiful. Of course, I don't like seeing people suffering, but I find like a magic within the action of letting go and surrendering to our feelings, because that's not a piece of cake, feeling is not easy. We're used to bottle everything up until we have no more room and we break down, because we're more afraid of acknowledging our feelings than we're of not feeling anything at all. We are born, we eat, we reproduce and we die, that's our life, isn't it? We always forget the "we feel", isn't that the key to everything we do? The patriotism for which soldiers die in wars is a feeling, the love that is shown in a grandfather's smile when he sees his grandchildren is a feeling, the pride in a mother's eyes when her son achieves something on his own for the first time is a feeling, the lust in the dilated pupils of someone who has just seen a person they're attracted to is a feeling. We're surrounded by them, they're the reason we get up every morning, it's them who make us enjoy our hobbies. And still, we're afraid of them, we don't let ourselves feel because there's always someone who'll criticize us for what we're feeling. If we do things that make us happy, we're too selfish, if we're selfless and help others, we're fools, if we fight for something we want, we're too ambitious, if we settle for what we have, we're not ambitious enough, if we wear our hearts on our sleeves, we're too naive, if we're shy and we don't trust others easily, we're bound to spend the rest of our lives in a house full of cats, and so on. Why is that? I feel alive every time I get to feel something, when I'm happy, when I'm crying my heart out, and even when I'm thirsty. We may be breathing and our heart may be beating, but we're alive because we're able to enjoy the wind touching our skin on the top of a mountain, because we're able to empathize with the crying little boy who's just lost his balloon, because we're able to miss our friends and family when we're far away, because we're able to crave someone's presence, in other words, we're alive because we're able to feel.

         I love my friend Elena. We always have a great time together, we even have hilarious inside jokes. We're very alike, not only because we both have dark hair and wear glasses, but because we both love Disney movies and animals. She always bears with me ranting about music and series, despite the fact that she usually doesn't know anything about the singer or about the plot of the TV shows. She has always been there for me when I needed her the most, making me smile even if I were dying inside. For all this, she's one of my best friends.

          You need to read If I stay! It's a really good book and it's pretty short, so it's easily read. It's a down to earth sotry, because it doesn't have any Hollywood-like type of love and the life of the main character is very common. Besides, this book'll move you and make you think about life and death. And if you don't read it, you should at least watch the movie. ;)

MY FAVOURITE PLACE IN THE WORLD

          My favourite place in the world is where I feel safe even if I’m alone. It’s really small and cosy, it doesn’t have any special attraction, but for me is the best place to forget about the real world and find some peace. I feel relaxed when I’m there, but the most amazing thing is that being there I’m able to feel happy, sad, nostalgic or angry without worrying about anything else. I definitely love that secluded corner between shelves in libraries or bookstores where I can become immersed in another world.