Weakness or strength?

"I told you to empty yourself of emotion! ... Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!"
- Snape, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"...I think Draco would be very gifted in Occlumency, unlike Harry. Harry’s problem with it was always that his emotions were too near the surface and that he is in some ways too damaged. But he's also very in touch with his feelings about what's happened to him. He's not repressed, he's quite honest about facing them, and he couldn't suppress them, he couldn't suppress these memories. But I thought of Draco as someone who is very capable of compartmentalizing his life and his emotions, and always has done. So he's shut down his pity, enabling him to bully effectively. He's shut down compassion — how else would you become a Death Eater? So he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself."
-J.K. Rowling

Is it a weakness or a strength to wear your heart on your sleeve? I had never done it before, well, at least on extremely rare occassions. One could never tell how I really felt and if they could I saw it as a personal failure. Unless I was displaying anger, or other emotions that I felt were all right to show. However, these days I seem to do it all the time. Thus, my mind is in a complete riot, because I am confused. What should I do?

Then we come to the question, are you strong or weak for showing your heart on your sleeve? What should you aim for to do? Something in the middle? Is lagom always best?

I think that a happy person is probably the strongest person. Because they can survive hard blows. Those who are not happy will have a harder time recovering from such things. So, let us take Draco as an example. Is he happy? J.K. Rowling states that "he suppresses virtually all of the good side of himself", so can he be happy then? I do not think he truly can be. He constantly feels the need to make Harry look weaker than himself. So he gives others an impression of being strong, when he is actually not.

On the other side we have Harry. Even Harry himself realizes that he is not good at Occlumency. He explains this to Hermione in a discussion between the two, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:
Hermione: "Dumbledore wanted you to use Occlumency! He thought the connection was dangerous... So you’re not even going to try to shut him out?"
Harry: "Hermione, I can’t. You know I’m lousy at Occlumency. I never got the hang of it."
Hermione: "You never really tried!"
But why does Harry not even try? My English teacher told us something today while talking about study techniques: If you are not interested in something, you're not gonna learn anything from it either. Harry is not interested in shutting off his emotions. Because if he does, it does not only get easier to get the hang of Occlumency, but also to become indifferent or perhaps even numb. If there are no feelings involved, it gets easier not to care. And once you start to shut them off, the harder it gets to start feeling again. And if you cannot feel, you cannot be happy either. So, feeling is important.

Therefore, I prefer showing my heart on my sleeve because I can never become strong for real unless I learn that the other extreme of trying to be some sort of robot is only the weak persons attempt of trying to be strong. Although, I do not contempt others who do so. Because it is not a luaghing matter to them, it is only what they want you to think. And since I can feel, I feel compassion for them. At least I try, I am not perfect and I will do wrong in the future. But I can always try to be a better person. If not for me, then for you.

That brings me to another topic. However, I shall discuss that later. Not now. Thank you for your time. Please, do comment if you agree or disagree. Any opinions shared are appreciated!