I go through phases where I'll be operating in life very cerebrally, and so my heart resembles a raisin. During those phases, I experience emotions that are very superficial, and I don't care deeply about anything. When in this state, I don't feel like my best self, and I constantly feel like something is off, and I will always know in the back of my head that I will have a breakdown (or breakthrough if we want to see it that way) at some point.
When I go through the opposite phase, I feel like my best self. In this phase, I cry just about anything, mostly beautiful things, multiple times a day.
Always privately though. If I'm in public and I can't contain myself, I wil find a way to hide and not show anything and appear "normal" and composed. I've learned that people are terrified of seeing someone cry, doesn't matter the why, even if it's about something joyful.
What makes you cry?
I'd echo everything the above posters mentioned. Mostly I'm a happy cryer.
- Totally relate to Sily's "when someone wins on tv" xD
- But most of all, if someone cries, I do too. It's contagious, I feel everything that they're feeling, be it happy or sad or intermediate, their emotion is my own at that moment and I have no control over myself, it's like I'm possessed.
- When someone is really happy, or when something amazing happens to somebody.
- When I feel really really happy and consumed by a wave of pure love.
- Beatiful music & scenery in a movie, emotive scenes between characters, beautiful sentences in books, emotive scenes in videogames...
- When I disappoint someone or myself. When I feel not-good enough. When I feel stupid or humiliated. When I have regrets.
If you are less of a cryer, when was the last time you cried and what was it about?
Whenever I go through my non-crying phases, I can go six, seven, eight months without shedding a tear. This is incredibly unhealthy for me, btw, do not recommend at all.
Do you like/dislike/feel neutral about crying?
If happy tears:
During --> Feel okay, I don't think about it, it just happens.
After --> Feel very "myself". I feel connected, peaceful, relaxed. It also sends me into an existential pondering of life and the universe and meanings of existence.
If sad/angry tears:
During --> Want to stop it, can engage in self-hate dialogue in my head, my brain yells "stop this! you are not fixing anything! the animal is already tortured/killed, the girl is already assaulted, you already disappointed whoever..."
After --> Feel numb or dead inside, but something in my head tells me I just shifted something inside that had been stagnant before, and that's a good thing.
How do you feel about crying in front of others?
Never. I'd rather stab my eyes.
How do you respond to others who cry?
They get my attention, my ears perk up and I move closer to them because I'm very intrigued by the reasons behind the crying.
I will know intuitively what to do in the moment, whether to say something or remain quiet. I find it very easy to deal with this kind of thing.
I find it much less easy to be the cryer and allow someone else to witness/respond to me. I don't deal well with that, most probably because I've only had two people out of a hundred in my life who actually responded well to me in such a situation, everyone else tries to suppress you, and suppression is rejection. Why would I put myself in a situation where I know 100% I'll be rejected? Nah, let me stab my own eyes instead, it'll be a more pleasant experience.