A few days ago, I was sitting on an airplane feeling restless + crabby.

(And feeling bad about feeling restless + crabby, which made me feel even more restless + crabby).

As I was ruminating, blaming myself, and trying to find a way out of my misery, I thought: wait, what if it was okay to just feel bad right now?

What if it was totally okay + allowed + not a problem to feel restless + crabby?

So often, my bad days are less about feeling unpleasant emotions and more about beating myself up for having them.

But what if the crabbiness wasn’t a sign that I’d done something wrong (by either creating it or failing to push it away)?

What if negative emotion is just a thing that happens sometimes (like when I wake up at 3 a.m. to catch an early flight + then sit for hours in a confined space) and not an indication that I’ve failed in some way?

This question was enough to shift me away from blaming myself + pushing my feelings away — into a space of just showing up for myself where I was, not feeling great.

It was a good reminder that it’s possible to bring a spirit of grounded neutrality + self-love to circumstances + feelings I don’t love.

So if you’re feeling crabby, restless, frustrated, sad, or anxious today, I hope you give yourself grace, space, and permission to be human.

Because un-fun emotions are just part of our experience that we can expect to happen sometimes.

What might it look like to make room for all of your feelings — for all of you — even through the hard emotions?