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?
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“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)