When crying, most people are so quick to shut it down and ask themselves, “What is wrong?” “Why am I crying right now?” or “Why can’t I stop crying all the time?”
Most people hate crying and never want to do it nor let anyone else know that they do. This is understandable. Most of the time, when we cry, it is because we are feeling huge waves of sadness, and obviously, sadness isn’t a great emotion. However, crying is so important. With the year that we’ve all just experienced, we need to let out a good cry now more than ever.
Letting out a good cry is borderline meditation. I might not be a sensitive person where I cry at everything, but when I do cry, it is a very long, drastic and dramatic cry because it’s buildup. If we go months and months without crying and we let our emotions build up inside of us, in the end, the waterworks are bound to occur in a huge wave — and I believe that’s a good thing.
Crying allows us to relieve stress, lower our blood pressure and helps us embrace our emotions. Crying is so beneficial to our mental health because, sometimes, when you have a good cry about something that may be bothering you, you can begin to move on and heal from that situation. Crying is the breaking point, and simultaneously, it’s the start to the healing process.
We’ve all heard the phrase “Crying is a sign of weakness” or “Crying isn’t good for the soul,” but I wholeheartedly disagree. There’s no way that crying can be a sign of weakness if you are being strong enough to face the emotions that bring you pain or sadness and react to that in a way that will help you to get on to the track of healing. You are letting yourself down if you choose to ignore your emotions and continue to let them build up inside you. Crying is a healthy way of releasing those emotions and preventing that guilt and buildup.
So, whether you have just failed a midterm, lost a loved one or even if one of your favorite fictional characters just died, go ahead and let out a good cry. When you do, I’d say congratulations. Your humanity is showing.
