It takes a certain kind of strength not to cry.
This is not because holding back tears takes a lot of brawn. Rather, I’m referring to the strength it took as a child to somehow internalize the belief that it is weak to cry.
That child had to endure an adult projecting their pain onto them. They had to create a defense mechanism in order to survive that interaction.
That is a special kind of strength.
That adult somehow came to believe that crying was not appropriate. So they told the child to stop because their system couldn’t handle it when that child cried. This is exactly how beliefs like “crying is weak” get passed down through generations.
I’m here to say –
It is okay to cry.
It is safe to cry.
It is strong to cry.
Crying creates tears and shaking in the body – both dislodging stored emotions that were buried to make others comfortable. The act of crying re-engages us with our bodies. It places our needs over others’ comfort.
Crying is a reclamation of who we are and who we were.
It’s more than okay to cry.