Crying can be a wonderful way to release bottled up emotions and cleanse myself of negativity. Whether I’m sad, angry, frustrated or deeply moved by something, it just feels so good to let it out through tears.I cry alone, in public, with friends or strangers present- it doesn’t matter. I’m no crybaby and I don’t cry often, but I honor my tears as a positive thing.
I cry when I’m sad. When I’m missing some one who died or moved away. I’ll cry at a movie or watching a t.v.show, especially if there’s a hurt animal or child. Sometimes I’ll have a sad dream and actually wake up with tears streaming down my face. I can have a wonderful dream and be so sad when I awaken to find it’s not real,especially when I dream of my mother. I wake up and realize she’s not alive and the tears flow.
Tears of anger or frustration are the least satisfying for me. It’s like a kind of short-lived madness. I cry my most gut-wrenching tears when I’m frustrated about something. It’s like I feel powerless and out of control of my destiny. It takes some serious self-reflection to re-affirm my ability to master my mind, rather than let my mind master me. The positive thing is I come out of it stronger and more determined to be happy within myself.
Crying when my feelings are hurt is another difficult experience. Many times I’ll discover that it’s more due to my sensitivity rather than from a deliberate slight. In reality I can only be hurt if I allow myself to be hurt. It all comes down to my own self-esteem. When I believe in myself no one can hurt me.
Empathy for another human being’s suffering makes me cry. People’s lives can be so tragic, their struggles so intense,I feel so badly for them it brings tears. Someone having that kind of empathy for me will move me to tears. After my family had all died and I was alone for the first time in my life, it became important for me to find just one person who really understood. Many people THOUGHT they understood ,people who had a child who moved away and they were alone…but no, it’s not the same. To have absolutely nobody left in my family, no one who I can call on the phone, no one with a family connection is a sad thing. When I finally found a person with this same situation it made me so happy to know I was truly understood- I cried, she cried and we both felt better.
My favorite tears are the ones I cry when I’m deeply moved by something. The beauty of art and music, or anything that touches a chord in my soul. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony always moves me to tears. (Sad country songs do not. They make me laugh.) A friend’s child thanking me for loving them- who would not be in tears over that? Deeply realizing the beauty of life itself, the wonderful friends I have, all make me cry with tears of Amrita. Tears of purest joy.
