Crying to Beat the Blues

Seeing Judy Garland in "A Star is Born" should get you going.

First off, let me assure you that I never divulge anything I consider to be personal information in these blog posts. All the truly horrible, wonderful or life-changing events, feelings, thoughts and activities I have ever engaged in, currently engage in or plan to engage in are nobody's business but my own. So relax if it seems like I'm giving TMI.

That being said, every morning upon waking I have a good cry. Sometimes it lasts only five or ten minutes, other times it may go on for much longer, maybe half an hour or until I've had my coffee, which is a lot harder to make when I'm sobbing. I never know what I'm crying about, but once I start I come up with of lots of reasons to feel sad. Then when it's over I feel a lot better about things!

I've been doing this for years and have only recently learned that crying is now considered by the experts in the field of psychology to be a beneficial therapeutic tool. Bottling up emotions causes all sorts of mental and physical problems, among them depression and cancer. (Ironically, once you get a cancer diagnosis you will likely start crying and may continue unabated for months, but alas, it's too late.)

Try it. If you have a hard time getting started, just think of one of these things:
Each year in the U.S., 1,206 babies are born missing half their skull and part of their brain.
Murder is rampant in much of the world, including Chicago.
That scene at the end of "A Star Is Born" where Judy Garland comes on stage and says, "I am Mrs. Norman Maine."
Everyone you know will die.
You will die. 
Trump won.

That should help. Now go get some tissues.