According to astronomer Carl Sagan, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” What unknown would you like to see revealed in your lifetime? Why is this of personal importance? (400 to 500 words)

I wish I understood this interesting habit of mine. Whenever I feel strong emotions, funny drops of water seep from the corners of my eyes. Maybe you’ve experienced this too? Yes, maybe you’ve produced some tears of your own.

I’m not really satisfied with what modern science can tell me about tears. There are some theories explaining the relationships between emotional catalysts and biological responses, that is true. Dr. William Frey, for example, notes that intense emotion is accompanied by the release of hormones. Tears would facilitate the release of these hormones and help restore internal chemical equilibrium. As part of the limbic system, the trigger is stored as memory and branded with appropriate emotional coloring.

But still, this explanation leaves so much unanswered. What specific pathways trigger the response? What areas of the brain are responsible for initiating the reaction? How can we explain why it is easier to cry at certain times, why people respond to the same stimuli differently, why some people are more inclined to cry than others?

There are evolutionary questions to consider. Are our tears an important part of the minds we like to think separate us from other animals? Are emotional tears an important part of our uniquely human minds? If so, how and when did this develop? How do culture and genetics play a part in the likelihood of tear response, and how did these come to be?

There are so many questions left unanswered and unasked. I want to know why. Why can I cry at any tearjerker or Hallmark commercial, but not at my cousin’s funeral? Why didn’t the tears come when I needed them? Why did I feel nothing when they told me she had been murdered?

I don’t know, but I want to. Have I done something wrong? Is my social and biological development so warped that I’m unable to cry, even when faced with cold, pointless death? I have this empty hole inside of me that I cannot understand, that I will not be able to process, not until my tears and I have come to an understanding.

But there’s more than me here at stake. Everyone cries, or at least, everyone has cried. It is something we humans do. It is therefore likely that they benefit us in some not-so-small way. A better understanding of tears might bring us one step closer to understanding where we have come from and where we will go. We are beginning to understand things that never seemed important before, diseases like depression, the need for human contact, the need for natural sunlight. A greater understanding of their importance has given us a better quality of life. An understanding and acceptance of tears may help us lead healthier and happier lives, too.

If you could understand the why and how, the response might not be so mysterious. I cannot hope to have full control of my tears, but a greater awareness might prevent them from controlling me. Maybe I will finally be able to sit and have a good cry, and things will look better when my tears and I are done.

521 words