Wiggin' Out 'Bout it Wednesday: Don't Cry Out Loud (or do, I'm not your mother)

I tried to post this yesterday but I am a Destroyer of Technology® and couldn't get my phone or my computer to give this thing up. So let's pretend its Wednesday and we are wigging out like crazy over the following entry. Come with me, won't you?

**Fairy dust**

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I had written an entry a few days ago about my latest (and I hope to be last) trip to IKEA. I was all ready to post it and then something terrible happened in Boston and I didn't feel like sharing that entry anymore, just then.

Bloggers: such models of suffering.

Like a lot of people, I suspect, once I found out, I walked around with a heavy heart, sad for those who suffered, wondering how this latest event would change rules and regulations, opinions and conspiracies.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still angry and stunned at how vicious people manage to get heard much more often than the good, but I also felt steadfastedly determined to remember that I still absolutely believe the world to be a beautiful place.

I thought about what I do when things are terrible and the answer is: I cry. Which, I know, duh. But I tend to seek out things that make me cry even more. Not a sad, YouTubing-9/11-videos kind of cry, a "the world is marvellous, full of remarkable places and fantastic creatures and I just have to keep remembering that," cry. There's a difference - my sad sob is a semi-tone higher.

Sometimes there's nothing so cathartic as a good cry. Done in private, with a loved one, or at a company picnic in front of all your coworkers, letting it all out can be a great release that makes you feel a little bit lighter afterwards, if only for the massive amounts of liquid you (I) shed. And while it's always good to "cry it out" over something personally troubling, I also like a good generic happy cry. Many's the time TB has walked by me sitting in front of my laptop, tears running down my cheeks like a suck as I wave him away saying "it's okay, it's just something I'm watching".

If you, like me, need to chop some emotional onions, let me take you on a tour of the stuff that lets my tears out of eye jail.

1. Where the Hell is Matt?

I must have watched Matt's videos a dozen times apiece, but they always make me smile. This one, for my money, is the best one if you want to get your tears on. The evolution of Matt's videos are as follows: Matt dances funny. Then he travels places and dances funny. Then he gets other people to dance with him around the world. So simple, so enjoyable. 

Something about the ridiculousness of Matt's dance, coupled with the realization that the world and its people are so beautifully different, yet ultimately the same, all set to this sweeping musical track - sob city, people. Chills every time I watch it. 

2. Inside Every Good Dog is a Great Dog - Purina Commercial

If you know me, then you know I'm firmly Team Dog (sorry Team Ferret, I appreciated the fruit basket but no dice on switching sides). This video, dog food commercial though it might be, is a perfect illustration of why I love them. Dogs don't care if you're weird or blind or stuck in an avalanche, or lonely - they love you because you're you and because they're yours. Somewhere around the dog diving in the water I can feel a sort of heat behind my eyes and by the time we get to doggy dancing, I'm basically a melted Popsicle posing as a human.

3. Jim Henson Memorial - Jim's Favorite Songs

Ugh. There's no words to describe what a mess I become when I watch this. Well, "soggy batshit" comes close, so let's go with that. I'm a lover of Sesame Street and Muppets in general, and I remember when I was a kid finding out Jim Henson had died and knowing that that meant Kermit was dead and Ernie was dead and thanks to Sesame Street itself I knew none of them  were coming back .. let's say it's a miracle I'm not in therapy right now. Such a beautiful, adorable, heartfelt tribute to a man that was responsible for such a large part of my childhood. Oh, and don't look up Frank Oz's eulogy to Henson if you don't have shares in Kleenex.

So those are my top 3 "life is beautiful/life is beautiful but sad" tear-jerker videos. There are plenty more I'm forgetting, I'm sure, but those ones always get me in the ducts.

Honest request: if you have any happysad videos that make you a mess, please link them in the comments. I am always looking to add to my collection of headache-inducing sob videos.