The Need for a Cry and the young children wisdom

One of the wisest things about young children is that they have no shame or compunction whatsoever about bursting into tears, perhaps because they have a more accurate and less pride-filled sense of their place in the world: they know they are extremely small beings in a hostile and unpredictable realm, that they can’t control much of what is happening around them, that their powers of understanding are limited and that there is a great deal to feel distressed, melancholy, and confused about.

Unfortunately, such wisdom tends to get lost as we age.

We get taught to avoid being, at all costs, that most apparently repugnant (and yet in fact deeply philosophical) of creatures: the cry-baby.

We start to associate maturity with a suggestion of invulnerability and competence.

We imagine it may be sensible to imply that we are unfailingly strong and in command of what is going on.

We are in our essence and should always strive to remain cry-babies, that is, people who intimately remember their susceptibility to hurt and grief. Moments of losing courage belong to a brave life. If we do not allow ourselves frequent occasions to bend, we will be at great risk of one day fatefully snapping.