Let's Hear it for the Sad Songs
"Why are there so many sad songs?" my 13-year-old asked. There are happy songs too, his father responded, but I had to agree with the boy, there are far more sad songs than happy ones and it doesn't just stop there, there are far more sad books, depressing poems, and most serious movies are also tearjerkers.
Why do we capture so much sadness with our words?
Happiness is easy to share and sprinkle around like stardust but unhappiness...who wants to be touched by that?
When I am happy, I have people to share it with, but when I am sad, I feel alone. Who would want me to tell them my worries, my insecurities, and even more importantly, who would want to listen without judgement, advice, or quick fix-its? Where happiness means emotional success, sadness is failure, and who wants to be associated with a loser? And so we, each, nurse our wounds alone, when someone comes along, we smile, feign happiness, and try finding ways to crawl away into some secure corner to be alone (or maybe that's just me!) and secret away our sadness into words.
Some people capture those low moments by writing and hoping that others might read their words, share their thoughts, and in doing so, might feel less alone.
Perhaps, that's why there are so many sad songs - it's someone's sadness reaching out for a hand to hold.
Why do we capture so much sadness with our words?
Happiness is easy to share and sprinkle around like stardust but unhappiness...who wants to be touched by that?
When I am happy, I have people to share it with, but when I am sad, I feel alone. Who would want me to tell them my worries, my insecurities, and even more importantly, who would want to listen without judgement, advice, or quick fix-its? Where happiness means emotional success, sadness is failure, and who wants to be associated with a loser? And so we, each, nurse our wounds alone, when someone comes along, we smile, feign happiness, and try finding ways to crawl away into some secure corner to be alone (or maybe that's just me!) and secret away our sadness into words.
Some people capture those low moments by writing and hoping that others might read their words, share their thoughts, and in doing so, might feel less alone.
Perhaps, that's why there are so many sad songs - it's someone's sadness reaching out for a hand to hold.