I grew up as "the girl who doesn't cry." It was pretty impressive, actually. I'm still a little proud of my younger self. I resolved not to cry about anything, ever, and only really screwed up in that capacity when I was furious. Of course, when you're angry is just about the worst time to cry, which reenforced my resolution to avoid it. There were times when I would go a whole year without crying, or not be able to remember when I last cried. This continued until college.

I'm not sure what happened in college - perhaps it was only there that I found the human emotions I'd been missing earlier. If so, I think I got a double-dose of them. For whatever reason, at this point in my life, I cry a lot. I've learned to accept it, even to embrace it. After all, there's something about crying that lets you know you're really living, really feeling things. The following are a few of the things I've cried over recently.

1. When people are nice.

Sometimes people are just too kind - it's too much, and my tear ducts can't take it.

2. When people are cruel.

They don't even have to be cruel to me. In fact, if they're cruel to me, I'm more likely to get angry and sarcastic than cry. But if they're cruel to someone else, and there's nothing I can do to stop them...I might very well start crying. Like when people are being cruel in movies. Those kinds of movies are just a terrible idea for me.

3. When other people cry.

Recently, my also-emotional mother started crying over a little girl in a Beyonce music video. Upon seeing my mom crying, I too started crying - a crying chain-reaction. I blame an overactive sense of empathy, I think.

4. When I'm talking about something nice someone said to me.

I'll be mid-sentence, no warning, when suddenly I begin to relive the moment of kindness, and the waterworks begin. This can be mildly alarming to my listeners. It's better not to react, I'll get over it in a second. It's just...people are so nice sometimes!

5. When I watched a video of a dog's puppies being returned to her.

Okay, it was adorable though. The little dog was so very happy, and the puppies were so cute and wriggly...oh no, here I go again...

6. When people compliment my work.

Sometimes, when I've worked really hard and didn't expect appreciation for it, a simple compliment can make me overwhelmingly grateful. I may even tear up. I'm so sorry if I've done this to you and made it awkward. I just really appreciate your appreciation of my work.