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"Even Strong Men Cry..."

That was a line I heard in a movie called "The Big Lebowski", starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, among others. It was in a scene when Lebowski, an old man, wept at the notion of his kidnapped wife and whether she'll be safe or not. But sometimes bad things happen to people, good and bad, and it drives them to express their emotions, even when they (may) spiral out of control, and evetually shed a few tears or wet a tissue with them. I haven't been posting for a few days because I was afflicted with depression: I'm quite busy these days, preparing myself for my next university year, and I've succumbed to a lot of pressure during this time. I felt like I wanted to cry... to let myself out... but while it was enough to keep me feeling down, I only shed a few tears. It was only until that moment that I felt better.

The thing is, crying is part of human nature. Everyone does, even when they're happy, or angry, or depressed. In fact, crying results from all emotions and feelings, which is why it is extremely associated with the concept of emotion to begin with. Crying comes from laughter, happiness, sadness, boredom, fun, anger and madness. You cry when you laugh too hard, or when you're too happy and you can't believe what you've got (e.g. got married to the girl of your dreams, or graduated with full honors), or when you're sad and depressed, or when you're angry at something you can't do anything about. It expresses your sadness or disbelief at a certain situation, and after the shedding is over, you feel better... You feel refreshed... revatalized... You're happier after sadness, relieved after happiness, calmer after madness... Crying is definitely an effective way to express your emotions, and is one of the best emotional cures known to man.

However, crying can sometimes be perceived as a sign of weakness. Crying has been associated with "sissiness", or with feminine actions to be more precise. It has been perceived as an encouragement for others to continue picking and harrassing a certain person for such an action. Granted, there are a lot of people you can legitimately call "crybabies", but it's still too much for some people to bear. The sight of a person crying has too often become a venue for comedy or condescending sympathy. It is often taken that weak people are the only ones who cry, and not strong people, and sometimes crying in public has too often become associated with attention-seeking behavior. While this may be true, there are a lot of people who can't let their emotions to themselves.

In my opinion, crying is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of human nature and humanity. For too often have we as humans cried over the situations in Palestine and Iraq, among other places. Sometimes, we cry over situations that are beyond our control, even in public. Crying relieves the soul of its pains and the trials that the individual faces, but it's most often taken that while crying can't solve anything, at least it can help one act to solve a certain situation, or feel better after despair and distraughtness. Crying out of sympathy is a sign of one's humanity to one's fellow men. A Nablus resident, during the Aqsa intifada, told Israeli newspapers, regarding the Israeli army's impunity and inhumanity to Palestinian civilians and resistance members alike, this golden quote:
"Your soldiers seem to think that we do not suffer pain and do not have to mourn. Most of those killed are young people, and the Palestinian mother cries. The brothers and sisters cry too, just like in France, England, China or Israel. We are the only ones forbidden to cry, so I have one small request: if you do not permit us to be happy, at least let us cry."
Those who cry out of extreme despair draw out people who cry for them and their situation. Sometimes, one may lose a relative, or may fail to get what he or she really wanted or had a passion for (now passion is a subject worthy of posting, but later), and eventually weep over his or her misfortune.

So, what should you do about it? If you feel like crying, let it out! Stopping yourself from crying will choke you in your tears, and your soul will never be cleansed from what is ailing you. If you feel that doing it in public might worsen your image, do it in private. But if YOU see someone else crying, don't pick on him or her. There are a lot of people who fall into such misfortunate scenarios that they can't do anything but let themselves all out and cry. It's not something they'll do forever. Also, take note that crying doesn't solve anything, but if you have to cry, don't overdo it, because it does have adverse affects. Too much of a good thing is usually bad, but I'm not stopping you. Let's face it: crying is a part of human nature, and serves to cleanse the ailments in the soul from which your tears come. Everyone cries, even the strongest and boldest of men who have the humanity to cry. Your best friends and your worst enemies all cry, because they can't escape this essential fact of human nature: that crying, while emotionally involuntary, is essentially compulsory for one's well-being.

There's a lot to this subject, but that's all I can spill out for you. Crying, as we have seen, is part of humanity and human nature. We can't escape from it, but we must also accept that others have an undeniable to express their emotions, and we shouldn't make others feel bad because they do it. And like that Palestinian said, let people cry, because if you don't, it will be you who will be perceived as having the weakness of inhumanity.

Salaam, from
Saracen


By the way, the quote was taken from Fateful Triangle, by Noam Chomsky, which is quite an amazing read.

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