Author's Note:
This is a piece I wrote on ways people can cry, without being sad, and I wanted to try to make the reader think of any times they have experienced any of them. I am focusing on word choice and would appreciate comments.
A single tear floats down the soft skin of young woman. She sat and stared at the sky, not really knowing why this was occurring. She was not sad, she was not happy, she was crying. Most people assume tears mean someone was joyful or sad, but it does not. Crying expresses feelings that we cannot with our words.
A first example of a reason people cry is when they are watching a heartfelt movie and tears trickle down their cheek. We assume it's because the actors are so good, but I think it is because something in the movie triggers a memory; a happy memory, a sad memory, any memory that brings strong emotion into our bodies. I personally have been affected by this type of crying when I was watching The Notebook. There were two parts of this movie that effected me personally. The first was when Ally originally left Noah to go to New York; which made me think of when a close friend of mine moved to Pennsylvania. Second, when Noah and Ally were elderly and having their romantic moment towards the end and Ally forgot who Noah was. This made me think of my grandpa who is slowly losing his memory. Overall, I think that movies can bring tears to our eyes, just as easily as feeling bummed.
Another reason people cry is when someone is born. It is common to think that we are happy, thus we cry, but the way I see it, people cannot speak or express what they are feeling, so they weep. If you have ever been around for someone being born, how would you describe? What words could you honestly be able to use to describe the joy and fantastical feelings you are enduring inside? This kind of joy is only able to be shown through the light in a person’s eyes when they cry. I am not personally able to express what this would feel like first hand, but a good example is in Forrest Gump. Once Forrest finds out that he has a son, he becomes dumbstruck and cannot speak. The only action he can do is sob because he was so overjoyed. In conclusion, I feel that birth can bring tears of emotion that cannot be expressed any other way.
Have you ever laughed so hard, you started to cry? This is my third way to cry without being sad and I think that it causes tears for one reason--would you rather have tears coming out of your eyes, or your buttocks? Scientists say it's someone's laughter putting pressure on ones tear ducts, but I have personally experienced this kind of crying and believe I know the truth. Lastly, to test this out, I would recommend
clicking here.
My last and favorite way of crying, is when you are out on a long walk down a sidewalk on a warm, cool-breeze day, with the sun out and the leaves rustling, and your eyes begin to water. When the sun is just right, and the wind is blowing in the perfect direction, so when you look up to laugh at the sky, tears drip from your chin. Again, there could be scientific reasons behind this, but I think people cry on these days because it is so beautiful. Think about the sky, the clouds, the tall trees standing still as their branches sway in the winds. The cold breeze could be drying your eyes to make you cry, or it could be the cold breeze that is blowing slowly enough to push your hair across your smooth face on this springtime day. Either one of these could be right, either one could be wrong, but I know which I stand behind. A good example of this happening is in the book The Growing Love, where the main character, Nelson, describes the fresh New York day that gets him to cry. To conclude, this was another example of a way to cry without being sad.
Sadness is not the only reason to cry, there are several other ways to and my examples are just a start. Obviously not all of these can be proven, or disproven, but when science fails us, magic steps in. Imagine you are extraordinarily happy, overcome with laughter, unbelievably moved, or outside on the perfect day, how would you express those emotions?
