What was it like growing up in your family? Were tears encouraged, normalized or discouraged? In chapter 1 of Permission to Mourn the topic of tears is discussed. Did you know that tears produced as a response to emotions like sadness or pain contain hormones that help the body deal with stress? Are you the type of person who feels better after a good cry or someone who finds it hard to shed tears?
“Heaven knows we need to never be ashamed of our tears, for they are the rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I cried than before.”
-Charles Dickens (Pip in Great Expectations)