At some point in each of our lives, we all cry. We cry when we are angry, we cry when we are sad, we cry when we are happy. Everybody does it.
However, I absolutely hate crying. In my experience it is the ultimate form of weakness and vulnerability — you are revealing to the outside world that something has profoundly affected you, and there are people in this world who are cruel enough to use that against you.
Crying in general is awful, but crying in front of people adds an entirely new level of weakness and defeat. There are now witnesses to your pain and anguish, and knowing that makes me incredibly anxious and uncomfortable.
Experience has also taught me that crying is incredibly therapeutic. It allows us to physically release all of our angst, anxiety, and frustration. If we keep everything everything bottled up without allowing it to release every once in awhile, we would explode and spontaneously combust in an uncontrolled eruption of emotion.
So what do you do? How do you allow yourself to feel these emotions and experience this vulnerability?
You cry in the shower.
1. You are already in an incredibly vulnerable situation.
In the shower you are the most physically vulnerable you could ever be. You are completely naked, with nothing and nowhere to hide. This physically vulnerability allows us the ability to be emotionally and mentally vulnerable as well.
2. Showers are relatively loud, so no one will hear you.
Between the sound of the water-tank pushing gallons of water through your pipes, the sound of gallons of water hitting the porcelain or tile floors, and the closed bathroom door, it is almost impossible to hear someone crying in the shower. You run a higher chance of being heard if you are sobbing at the top of your lungs or forget to shut the door, but chances are you will have a sound-proof seclusion.
3. When you are done crying, no one will be able to see the tears.
Most of us wash our faces in the shower, or at least get them wet in the process. The water will literally wash away any and all traces of your tears, so there's no evidence after you're done. If you are like me and get red eyes and redness/puffiness in general, all you have to do is say you got soap in your eye and are trying a new face wash. Problem solved.
4. Showering, and bathing in general, is usually private.
When most of us shower, we expect some degree of privacy. Even if we live in a busy household where people come and go, most of the time the boundary is drawn at the shower curtain. That one piece of fabric gives you the sense of privacy and seclusion to be as vulnerable and emotional as you want.
5. Showers are incredibly therapeutic.
When you've finished crying, and you all of your emotions have been drawn out and sent spiraling down the drain, there is nothing more relaxing than feeling hot water beat against your body. It's like a mini massage that finishes releasing all of that negative emotion and feeling. You can imagine all of that pent up anxiety, tension, and sadness being washed off your body and disappearing forever.
So, the next time you need to have a good cry, when you are feeling beaten down and belittled, run a screamin' hot shower and let all of your worries drain away.
