Best Self Magazine

What Are You Really Crying About?

What Are You Really Crying About? by Alison Hammer. Photograph of a box of tissues by Raphiell Alfaridzy.
Photograph by Raphiell Alfaridzy

What’s happening beneath the tears we cry? Whether they are tears of joy or sorrow — they connect us to pieces and even forgotten parts of ourselves.

“I love to cry — as long as it’s not about my life.” It was a simple statement, a line I’ve said a thousand times before. But when your dad is a shrink — like mine — you never know where a conversation might take you. 

A few months ago I was visiting him down in Destin, Florida. We were sitting outside, having coffee and breakfast while we read our separate books. Mine was a tearjerker

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