People Should Cry More!

After surviving COVID, two tenures of the late Muhammadu Buhari, and the constant increase in inflation, is this even a hot take? Brothers and sisters, cry. It's okay, I promise you. But my take is still cooking, because I wasn't just referring to crying at night in bed because things are hard, but for minor inconveniences as well.

The other day, I was replying an email, and I had to address a lot of omitted pieces of information in the original email, and on my fifth bullet point, I started grumbling out of frustration, only to turn around and find my sister staring at me like I was losing my mind.

"But it's just an email." And. so. what???

I wasn't going to actually cry about it, but on second thought, what if I wanted to? Is that wrong? When did we come together as a society and group things worthy or unworthy to cry about and I missed the meeting? If anything at all, I think it's actually the most socially acceptable reaction to any situation. ANY. Good news? Cry about it. Bad news? Cry about it. Frustrated? Cry about it. It goes for anything. Try laughing at a funeral. So, if it's actually appropriate for all circumstances, whyyy do we make a such a big deal out of people doing it for things we think are too small for such a reaction? Double standards is what it is. Don't even get me started on the group of people who consider not crying as a show of strength. To me, it signals weakness or sociopathy.

The final ingredient I'll add before I turn off the stove on this take, is that the world wouldn't be so full of angry people if we all cried more. You wouldn't need therapy if you processed that moment of grief when you were 19, and you wouldn't break down at work on a random Tuesday afternoon if you cried when you felt the urge to during the weekend. You're putting your emotions on a schedule, is what it is, and that's a ticking time bomb. Now, if you're thinking, " Oh, but if I cry at every minor inconvenience I would be crying all day", actually you wouldn't. And that's the irony of it. Your emotions would become well regulated and adjusted that those "minor inconveniences" genuinely don't bother you like they used to.

Let's try an exercise. For the next three days, cry or crash out about any little thing that upsets or frustrates you. If the tears aren't coming out, you have Twitter, or a problem if you can't find a release for those pent up frustrations. I've heard boxing and Judo to be good alternatives, and if you get beaten up, you now have a good reason to cry, and in front of an audience. A win if you ask me. Other alternatives are rage rooms, breaking no-contact, or listening to classical music. Whatever floats your boat, just let it out and report back on your results.