Have you had a good cry lately?

<p>It’s quite common to hear <em>oh she is so brave!</em> when the broken-hearted person appears controlled and poised in the face of grief. How is someone supposed to feel when their heart is broken?</p> <p>And yet we continue to admire those who do not show their grief in public, who receive condolences as though the occasion were a pleasant Sunday afternoon blabber. <em>He was so brave. I was proud of him. He didn’t break down, not once,</em> and so on and so forth…we hear people say.</p> <p>Really, whose benefit is this tight hold on our emotions? For the griever’s sake? For the sake of the consoling friends, who may be afraid of being swept into their grief?</p>