Imagine this: you’ve been studying deep into the morning for your various exams. Your brain is fried and no matter how many cups of coffee you drink, your eyes refuse to stay open. You’re doing an experiment in chemistry class that involves heating a solution in a glass beaker to the point where the beaker is littered with condensation. You reach for the beaker, but BAM, the heat absorbed by the glass burns your little fingers, causing the beaker to break into tiny pieces. Chemistry is one of the subjects that you’re passionate about and this has never happened to you before, so you’re absolutely mortified to find the entire class’ eyeballs glued onto you.
Crying when you’re upset or hurt is reasonable no matter the situation.
Feeling embarrassed and guilty, you take a seat while your teacher cleans up the shards of glass. Tears start to pool in your eyes, so you rush to the bathroom before anyone can see. Sadly, some people did notice…if their hushed whispers the moment you re-enter the room were any indication.
Who here thinks that the reaction of crying was uncalled for?
To be honest, I don’t. In today’s day and age, crying is seen as a weakness, and I think that the stigma around crying is nonsensical. I believe that crying when you’re upset or hurt is reasonable no matter the situation.
Crying, in general, makes people uncomfortable. Have you ever been in a situation where someone is crying and you have no idea how to comfort them, so you feel awkward?
We live in an age where we constantly need to look “put-together” even if we’re crumbling on the inside. This is why people don’t like to cry in public. Not only that, but they’re scared of being vulnerable and of being judged. This stigmatization started off when we were told that “big girls and big boys don’t cry.” From that moment onwards, it was as if our identity of being mature depended on our emotional capabilities. These days, public crying is only seen in dark movie theatres where people can blow their noses as loudly as they want and leave with tear-stained faces.
I firmly believe that crying is not a weakness and should not be perceived as one. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, so what does that make tears? It makes tears the soul’s way of showing that it’s hurt.
We live in an age where we constantly need to look “put-together”.
When we cry, it shows that we’re secure with ourselves and with our identity. When we cry, it is as though we open up a box and a storm of our worries is released. When we cry, it simply makes us feel heard — which is why people cry out of frustration. For example, when we throw a temper tantrum. Granted, tantrums are a bit juvenile, but the message is still the same. The message being “I do not feel like my opinion is being heard.” Crying can be beneficial in the art of persuasion as well; after all, haven’t we all gotten something we desperately wanted by shedding a few tears? I know I have.
I’ve spent the majority of my life thinking that I can’t cry when I watch sad movies, or I can’t cry when I get a bad test grade because it’ll make me look weak.
But that thought process stops here. Crying is a reasonable response, and we should not stigmatize something as natural as droplets of water that leak from our eyes. In fact, we should celebrate them. So, next time you feel tears pricking at the back of your eyes, let them out. Let them wash away your tension. Let your emotions run wild. I say, be proud of your tears and shine through them.
THE EYE 