http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPl...93&m=184560764

Listen to all of this; it’s not about the Facebook comment or the country song…I heard this on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday afternoon driving home from the vet’s office with my hubster and elderly cat.

Already melancholy over my beloved cat’s deteriorating health, tears streamed down my face over the segment about Charles Jenkins and his mother who has Parkinson’s.

I pictured my son, lovingly driving my Subaru Outback with all of my “stuff” scattered about. The Bed, Bath and Beyond 20% off coupons which are ever present, tissues tucked everywhere, re-usable Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s grocery bags, lip gloss (for make-up emergencies), a pair of flip flops, my favorite Pink Martini CD, and what he would laugh most about, my obsession with Purell tucked in the side door, these are the things I drive around with in my car.

This was the first time I really cried. Today I am fine, life is good, the cat is still purring.

I am a huge crybaby and cry over everything: the suffering in this world (tears of compassion), how people can be so horrible with nary a concern for their fellow man (tears of frustration), how my oldest is now in high school and just yesterday was a wobbly toddler, bobbing all over the house (parental tears!), how there are many dedicated researchers who toil in their labs seeking to find a way to help those suffering with illness (tears of gratitude), and on and on.

I prefer to cry privately, and no longer worry about how much I cry. Tears are therapuetic, and good for us, I seem to remember reading that they help release hormones that offset stress. Without some offsetting factor, cortisol stays in our body for 24 hours...I combat that stress frequently by crying. I see tears for what they are: my body's way of releasing stress and trying to cope. I much prefer that to any drug

It's funny that on the same day, Olsen posted about "selling sickness". http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread188641.html
and now there is this post about crying.

Crying as a reaction to the world is called "Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder".... it is a disease or a condition, and... there is a pill for it !!!

We were taught that everything is intellectual, and to be suspicious of emotion. But most of what we are about is emotional.


Oh oh! There goes my Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder again!

It is difficult when we are sick, and then have to cope with an aging pet. Our love pours into these special animals, and they give us such comfort. I hope you get to keep your pet longer. I lost a 21 year old cat named scruffy just over two years ago. Sometimes still I tear up. Heck I had him longer than my own kids! I will keep you and your pet in my thoughts and prayers. ginnie

Last winter, when times were hard, Ginnie required that I listen to Joe Bonamassa:
It is designed to make you cry.
Because you need to cry
(Bird on a wire)
http://youtu.be/iGF5y0B1eJU

Yes, a good cry, like an occasional rainy day, can be very therapeutic. Thanks for sharing the music.

I am here too, I cried this morning. I suffer loss of a different kind. Know that I care. Listen to Joe Bonamassa, Explore his music, you will find therapy in it. "Bird On A Wire" is one of my favorites. I will be with you in spririt with your tears. ginnie