Some days when my daughter comes back from school, she describes all her fun and some not so pleasant interactions. Once she mentioned about her friends that they can kill you with their words. I found this description amusing. She shields her feelings against those hurtful words I suppose.

I sometimes see the world as a warzone, with people up in arms against each other using words, gestures and actions to hurt each other’s feelings. They also have shields and armours to defend their own feelings. Young kids in schools, people at workplaces we all enter these battles every day. Home is the place where you come back and get your wounds healed, a safe place where you can put your shields down and show your wounds to someone who can heal you. The healers can be parents, but not all parents play the role of healers. Sometimes parents demand their kids to be tough, preparing them to handle more cruel battles in future. They want their kids to become tougher warriors.

Friends can be healers and the safe places can actually be within the warzones when you have understanding friends in front of whom you can put don your shields.

Some people are not hurt at all, their armours are made of tough steel which nothing can penetrate. The downside is, the soft feelings may remain safe within these armoured cages, but they are stifled.

Life is not always war, there are safe and beautiful places where the feelings come out, play and fly all around. The caged feelings would never learn to enjoy these lovely moments which make this life worthwhile.

We don’t need steel armours for our kids, we need more brave healers. Healers with courage to bring down their shields in the war zones as well, risking their own feelings to be hurt by sceptical warriors who still won’t trust them. However, that’s the only way to build up trust. To tell others that look I have no weapons and my shield is down. I will not hurt you, I am here to make friends.