I have never liked crying. I remember when I was a kid and we came home from vacation and somehow our cat had died at the vet, I went into my room and stuffed a towel under my door so I could cry alone. My mom and dad came in, though, and cried with me. (That was sweet.)
As an adult, I still don’t like it. It’s too emotion-y, and I get a nasty headache afterward. I have a coping mechanism for not crying in sad situations: I think about eating carrots. Some children’s book (Farmer Boy?) has a great description of eating a carrot – the harder, outer ring and the icy, juicy inside. I start thinking about that and the tears dry up. It’s been handy at many a funeral.
I do get teary at certain things, though. (Drat my getting older.) Heart-tugging videos or commercials bring watery eyes and a drippy tear. Then it’s carrots.
The downside of all this is that once in a while I recognize the need for a soul-purging weep, and I can’t drum it up. When things get crazy I’ll think, “If I could just cry than I could move on from this,” but instead it’s just frustrating, angry me raging around for a while.
(Yeesh. This makes it seem like I’m sad all the time. I’m not! Don’t think I’m spiraling into depression, I just am getting to my ‘today’ story. That was all back story.)
So, I am running up against some deadlines (anxiety), last night at a meeting there was a heart-tugging, awesome devotion at my meeting (teary eyes), this morning there was a little frustration at the start (no tears, but anxiety), than a thank-you note from a parent that made me teary, then the last thing I heard in the car was one of the unspeakable things those kidnappers did to one of their ten-year-long captives.
A minute of crying in the car. A good cry.
And back to carrots.
Brad says
Hmmm… I don’t have a “stop crying” technique. Maybe I should try carrots. It’s movies that always get me. If I show something in class, I always sit in the back to watch.
Kristi says
Don’t make me cry. There’s so much stuff that makes me want to cry. I’ll have to start thinking about carrots more often. Yes, carrots and peas; peas and carrots.
Deborah says
Even thinking about carrots doesn’t help me. I’ve tried.
Curt says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY7kzdnpgJ4#t=0m14s
Lauren says
You’re Seinfeld Guy today! 🙂
Gretchen says
There, there, Lauren. I’d suggest either watching this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jzrSqgVL_A) so you don’t feel bad about crying. Or, if you want to stop crying just look into a mirror. When I see how pathetic/hideous/ridiculous I look when I crying I stop instantly.