Imagine Magazine Question For 11/8

[Comicality]

Sometimes I enjoy watching reaction videos on Youtube. Seeing them watch movies that I always loved for the first time, or listening to songs that meant a lot to me, etc. And some of them can be really sad. Some can be really scary. Some can just be uncomfortable in general, hehehe! But what fascinates me more than anything is this recent panicked EVASION of emotion in general. I mean...I'm a little confused about that.

Now, I totally understand that watching a really sad movie and shedding tears over it can feel pain and misery for a short period of time. But, I mean...it's not going to KILL you or anything, right? To feel something that you might find temporarily uncomfortable? Why can't people do that anymore? I've cried over movies or TV shows, and I've shed tears over an especially moving cover of a song or something like that. And I reach for my box of tissues or whatever, and I deal with it. Do you think we're losing that in this day and age?

What's wrong with crying? What's wrong with laughing? What's wrong with being turned on by what you're watching? I see soo many people nearly suffocating themselves to death, trying not to let the tears fall. But why? Have we become afraid of emotion? What's wrong with having a heart and feeling something every once in a while?

Do you ever find yourself being emotionally 'constipated'? Is it affected by whether or not you're in the presence of other people? Is it different for men than it is for women? Is it considered a weakness, or is it just an honest expression of what you're feeling?

How do you personally handle emotion? Overwhelming as it may be. And do you think that's something that is going on with the rest of humanity, or is it just you? I'd be interested to find out. Let me know what you think down below!

Unless you're holding these emotions back as well! In which case...hehehe, I guess you'll stay silent!

[Comicality]

To be honest...I definitely fight valiantly against shedding tears in front of other people if I can help it. Unfortunately, depending on the circumstances, I'm not very good at it. Hehehe! I grew up in an era where boys didn't cry. Ever. You could break a leg, cut off a finger, lose your favorite pet in a woodchipper accident...whatever, suck it up! BOYS don't cry! And I find myself still trying to hold it all in, even when I'm alone. Bad habits, I guess.

But I DO cry sometimes. When I lost some friends to Covid-19, or when some of my family members were sick, I cried. There are times when I'm writing really intense or sad scenes in my stories where I dig deeply enough into my emotions or my past to cry as well. And some songs will hit me a certain way when I'm in a certain frame of mind...and it'll catch me off guard. Hehehe!

I was watching the "Squid Game" series recently from Netflix...and (no spoilers), there is an episode that totally broke me down! I couldn't stop crying. Jesus! That was a rough one...it really was. BUT...it's not, like an apocalyptic or traumatic experience that I could never recover from. I ust thought it was a really well written and emotionally engaging episode. Not many shows can affect me like that. I've had movies make me sad before, horror movies that have scared or disturbed me before, films that have angered me too. But I cherish the idea of me being moved to feel something. I like it. When I'm writing my stories, I can only hope to have that kind of effect on people. FEEL something! It's ok. I'm giving you permission. Hehehe! What's everybody so terrified of?

Anyway, I feel like I'm seeing people work harder and harder to avoid anything that makes them even slightly uncomfortable for most of their lives. And when the time comes when something becomes unavoidable...it's almost like they're unable to handle it. They're not equipped to deal with the situation. And I'd think that would be scarier than the situation itself. I'd much rather take my hard times and heartbreaks in small doses and build up a tolerance than delude myself into thinking that I can avoid all of the bad things, all of the time, everywhere, for the rest of my life...and then have it hit me like a truck anyway.

No thank you. I don't mind crying over a movie every now and then. And I have this automatic reflex that tries to stop me, especially if anybody else is around to see me tearing up...but so be it. I don't want to spend my life locking my emotions up in a dungeon for the rest of my days. It's gotta come out some time, right?
 

[Page Scrawler]

I do cry in emotional situations, but it depends on the circumstances. When I heard that my Aunt Laura (whom I had never actually met in person) had passed away? I felt sorry for my grandmother, my mother, etc, but I personally felt no connection to her. When my son, Max, called me "Daddy" for the first time after the adoption was finalized? I definitely turned into a blubbering mess! Certain movies like Heartstone or Love, Simon, move me for different reasons. I've always been someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, and if I ever got choked up watching a movie in a high school classroom, so be it. It's not healthy or human to bottle everything up inside.