Why can't i cry when i want to?
The story
discovering my husband's infidelity has left me in an emotional quagmire. i'm a 51-year-old woman who thought she'd seen it all. yet here i am, blindsided by betrayal. it's like being shocked awake from a pleasant dream into a cold and harsh reality. my heart feels like it's been shattered into a million little pieces, and all logic dictates that tears should be streaming down my face. but nothing happens. why can't i cry when i want to??? i wonder, silently questioning my emotional resilience—or lack thereof. isn't it human to express sorrow this way?
i know that confronting him would be tempestuous and I plan to ask for a divorce. but this sense of numbness is troubling me deeply. does the body go on some kind of emotional strike when it senses too much despair, i wonder??? i don't know whether my mental faculties have succumbed to denial, or if i've simply exhausted my pool of tears over the years. you ever been so overwhelmed that it leaves you emotionally disabled???, because that's exactly my predicament. it's perplexing, yet i'm strangely calm—emotionally marooned, you could say. like, is this self-preservation or am i just disconnected from reality???
i think as years go by, resilience builds like a fortress around one's heart. but what happens when you wish it wouldn't??? paradoxically, this emotional detachment offers a semblance of peace. it's a buffer from the soul-crushing reality of deceit and broken vows. each day, i mechanically go through the motions—answer emails, make dinner, and converse with acquaintances. all the while, this unfelt sorrow hangs over me like a dense fog. somewhere inside, a quiet desperation lurks, wishing to feel an emotional release. isn't it ironic??? maybe i’m subconsciously reprogrammed to withstand intense heartache.
anyways, maybe you think crying would ease the burden. seems logical right??? shedding tears offers solace and, for many, it's a healing way to combat relationship trauma. it's also a pathway to finally be free to walk away from this mess. yet, here i am, staring blankly at an unmoved reflection, asking the mirror why it refuses to break. aren't emotions meant to betray you, exposing your inner turmoil??? when words elude me, i am left pondering and questioning, in search of answers that this stoic heart of mine refuses to give. is it a form of self-punishment or a pitstop on the way to acceptance? only time will unravel the tangled web of emotions that fate has so cruelly woven for me. 🤷
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Points of view
look, i get that crying is supposed to be cathartic , but not everyone processes grief the same way, you know?
Emotional numbness can be a survival mechanism, giving you space to process things in your own time and way; perhaps your mind is taking its time to protect itself from the raw intensity of the hurt.