I have had to do an ENORMOUS amount of crying lately, just extraordinary. And not jsut little sniffles, either: extremely extended bouts of heaving, sobbing, keening, wailing screaming stuff. (I’m really comfortable with expressing my pain and grief, and I’m actually grateful. It sucks when I’m in it, but it actually does help dissipate the pain for awhile. I feel for people who can’t go there easily or at all. And it’s all relationship issues, for those who are curious.) And this got me to thinking: of all the things that set H. Sapiens Sapiens apart from all the other critters, that’s one of the most fascinating. Our lifelong ability to, NEED to cry. With tears and sobbing and the whole nine. I understand that babies need to be able to make noises to get their mother’s attention, but in other animals it goes away after infancy. Not us. Why do suppose that’s so, and has anyone studied it?
And what’s up with laughter? How amazing and strange and great is that, that we have this involuntary and rather dramatic physical response to finding something funny? How did THAT come about? And what is the survival advantage, if any? (As easily as I cry, it is very hard to make me laugh out loud. I am the toughest audience around…not impossible, just really tough. Always have been. My parents say I never smiled as a baby, never. But anyone who knows me knows I am not a terribly serious person at all. I’m actually funny and light hearted most of the time. It’s just very hard to get me to laugh. But when the timing is just right, and my funny bone gets hit in exactly the right way… I laugh as hard as I cry. My face goes purple, it’s hard for me to draw breath, the tears come to my eyes…I love it. I just wish it happened more.)