i am proud to be a cry baby. and i will not let this world stomp that out of me.
we live in a world where empathy is radical and increasingly hard to come by. if you’re reading this, you probably know what it feels like to be told you’re “too much.” too emotional. too sensitive for a world that seems to run best on detachment.
while this publication will be deeply personal, i hope that it helps other cry babies feel a little less alone.
i am happy that i feel things deeply, but i haven’t always viewed my sensitivity as a strength. i’ve spent most of my life trying to apologize for how often i feel things deeply. i’ve accepted responsibility for ruining holidays and family dinners, simply because holding back tears is a skill i still haven’t mastered.
for a long time, I thought being sensitive was something i had to outgrow. I treated it like a childhood habit, something tender, impractical, and childish. but no matter how much I tried to bury it, i couldn’t. i still cry during commercials. i still go to bed at night thinking about every interaction i had that day, analyzing tone and body language and wondering what i could have said differently.
i still feel guilty when i leave the ugly zucchini behind and sometimes i go back to the produce section to retrieve it with an apology and a promise that i will help that zucchini fulfill his lifelong dream of starring in a delicious recipe.
and I’ve decided I don’t want to mute this sensitivity anymore. because sensitivity isn’t a weakness to fix: it’s a strength we’ve been taught to be ashamed of. caring deeply isn’t the problem, but it could be the solution in a world that desperately needs cry babies like us to keep our hearts soft, our eyes open, and our tenderness at the center of our ethos.