Sadness is a super important thing not to be ashamed about but to

Host:
The room was quiet, save for the soft whirr of the ceiling fan and the occasional sound of a car passing outside. The sun had dipped behind the horizon, casting the room in a dim, reflective light. Jack and Jeeny sat across from each other at the kitchen table, their mugs of tea cooling in the silence between them. The quote from Mike Mills — "Sadness is a super important thing not to be ashamed about but to include in our lives. One of the bigger problems with sadness or depression is there's so much shame around it. If you have it you're a failure. You are felt as being very unattractive." — had hung in the air ever since Jack had read it aloud.

There was something about those words, something raw, that felt both universally true and deeply personal. Jack broke the silence, his voice softer than usual, as though the weight of the words had begun to settle in.

Jack:
(he looks at Jeeny, his voice thoughtful)
"You know, that quote really hit me. It’s so easy to think of sadness as something to hide, something to push away, especially in a world that’s so obsessed with happiness, with always being on top of things. But what if we stopped hiding sadness? What if we made room for it, let it be as much a part of us as joy or excitement?"

(He shifts slightly, his fingers tracing the rim of his mug.)
"I think the shame around sadness, especially depression, is what really makes it harder to handle. It feels like if you’re sad, there’s something wrong with you. That you’re failing somehow. It’s like society has this impossible expectation to always be okay, to always be upbeat."

Jeeny:
(she nods, her voice soft but filled with understanding)
"I think that's the problem, Jack. We don’t let ourselves feel sadness because we’re so afraid of being seen as weak or broken. We’re told we should always be happy, that sadness is something to fix, something to avoid. But that just makes it harder to deal with."

(She takes a deep breath, her gaze steady, as though trying to fully capture the weight of what Jack said.)
"Sadness is a part of life, just like joy is. It’s part of the human experience. But because there’s so much shame around it, we tend to bottle it up, push it down, or try to ignore it. But if we embrace it, if we give it space to be, maybe we could start healing, rather than hiding."

Host:
The quiet in the room deepens, the conversation having taken a turn toward something both difficult and necessary. Jack’s fingers rest on his mug now, the weight of the conversation settling between them like an unspoken truth. Jeeny’s words seem to carry the weight of years spent trying to navigate the expectations of a world that often values strength over vulnerability, happiness over authenticity. The air in the room feels thick, not with tension, but with the truth they’re both grappling with — that sadness is a part of life, not something to be ashamed of or hidden.

Jack:
(he exhales slowly, his tone quieter, more reflective now)
"I think for a long time, I’ve treated sadness like it was something to be fixed or ignored. I’ve dismissed it because it didn’t fit into the picture of the life I thought I was supposed to have. But I see now how much harder it makes everything when we try to deny it, when we tell ourselves it’s not okay to feel sad."

(He looks at her, his expression softer now, more open.)
"Maybe the first step is just accepting it — not as something bad, but as something that’s part of us, something that’s worth feeling, not hiding."

Jeeny:
(she smiles gently, a soft warmth in her eyes)
"Exactly, Jack. Sadness is as much a part of us as joy, as love, as anything else. And the more we try to avoid it or shame ourselves for feeling it, the more it consumes us. But if we allow ourselves to sit with it, to truly feel it, then we can process it, and it doesn’t hold the same power over us."

(She reaches across the table, her hand resting gently on his, a quiet gesture of connection.)
"There’s no weakness in sadness. There’s only strength in acknowledging it and allowing ourselves to experience it fully. When we do that, we start to heal, we start to let go of the shame and the fear."

Host:
The room feels suddenly warmer, the connection between them palpable in the quiet space they’ve created. Outside, the world continues on, but inside, a small truth has been shared — that sadness, like joy, is a part of being human, something to be acknowledged and embraced, not hidden or suppressed. The heaviness of the conversation lingers in the air, but it’s no longer weighed down by shame. Instead, there’s a lightness, a sense of freedom in recognizing the validity of all emotions, even the difficult ones.

Jack:
(slowly, with a sense of relief in his voice)
"Maybe that’s what we all need more of — space to feel, without judgment. To know that it’s okay to not always be okay. That we don’t have to fix sadness or hide it, but that we can face it and let it pass in its own time."

(He smiles at her, the weight lifting from his shoulders as the understanding deepens.)
"Maybe the world would be better if we all gave each other that grace, if we let sadness exist without the shame. If we treated each other’s pain as part of the whole, instead of something to fix or hide from."

Jeeny:
(smiling, her voice warm and understanding)
"Exactly. Acceptance is the key. Not just for others, but for ourselves. We don’t have to be perfect, and we don’t have to be happy all the time. We just have to be real, be honest about how we feel, and allow ourselves the space to process it all."

(She lets out a small breath, the quiet satisfaction of understanding settling between them.)
"Once we do that, we find the freedom to move through it, to let it go and heal."

Host:
The room feels filled with the quiet revelation of what they’ve just discovered together. Jack and Jeeny sit in the soft glow of the evening, the weight of their conversation lingering but no longer overwhelming. Outside, the world continues to move, unaware of the shift that has occurred inside this small space.

They’ve come to a quiet understanding: that sadness, like all emotions, is part of being human, something not to be ashamed of, but something to be accepted, felt, and ultimately, released. And with that acceptance, comes a deeper connection to themselves and each other.

The world outside will keep turning, but inside, there is peace in knowing that it’s okay to feel, to hurt, and to be real.

End Scene