“You can change the world (I can’t do it by myself)
You can touch the sky (Gonna take somebody’s help)
You’re the chosen one (I’m gonna need some kind of sign)
If we all cry at the same time tonight”

-Michael Jackson – “Cry”

I like to cry.

It’s a vulnerability I can express through myself alone and usually away from the judgment of others.

I think we all like to let the floodgates open from time to time. It’s a release, an emotional breakdown where we just temporarily lose control of our bodily functions.

But it’s a rare occurrence to see me even so much as sob. It takes something truly special to cause me to do away with manliness and just let go of all that bottled up sadness.

So thanks to a recent even that pushed my tear reflexes to the brink, I am celebrating the handful of outside influences that actually broke through my barrier.

I’m not discussing personal-life weep stories here because I’m not in high school anymore. These are merely “heat of the moment” situations. But the music section of this list does get somewhat personal.

So here are my most recently memorable tear-jerkers. Some contain spoilers.

TV:

• Monday’s How I Met Your Mother prompted this whole post. I didn’t break down in the presence of another, but I was dang close. I won’t use spoilers but you should watch it.
• I can’t watch that stupid Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It gets you every time.
• Yu Yu Hakusho:  Twice I cried. At an anime. Once was during the main character’s funeral at the beginning of the series. He was there as a ghost watching everyone he loved and hated honor him.
  Then, when he died a second time later in the series, his friends’ denial and despair was too much to handle.
• There was a rumor I cried at one of the season finales of The O.C. I will neither confirm nor deny.
• Somewhere in the last couple episodes of Heroes, I got so many chills that tears came out of pure ecstasy. I was watching my own fictional dream come true, as if I wrote it myself.

Sports:

• Tennis got me twice: Andre Agassi’s farewell speech and after one of Roger Federer’s matches. I think it was when he finally won the French, but I could be wrong.
• Super Bowl XLIV: Six years as a Drew Brees fan came into one gleaming moment as he raised his son into the air and hoisted the Lombardi trophy. To this day, nothing was as beautiful as that moment in sports.
• Earlier this season, CBS did a special on Chris Henry’s mother. She donated his organs which ended up helping multiple families. One died so they could live. The breaking point was when announcer James Brown couldn’t talk in the studio afterward from all his emotions.

Cinema:

• I bawled for 30 minutes straight watching The Reader. I honestly don’t think I can watch it again for that reason.
• When I didn’t have Jimmy, Marley and Me never affected me. After I got him, I struggled with how I would emotionally cope when he passed on.
• That “family first” line in Click is a stunning revelation that looks like in another Adam Sandler trash piece. It is not.

If I watched more movies, this list would be longer.

Books:

I don’t read much either. I remember sobbing to “The Wringer” as a child, but I don’t remember what triggered it.

“The Secret”  made me teary-eyed because it made the most sense out of anything I had read ever. Refreshing to know you’re not out of your mind.

And, of course: Music

• “Who Knew” by Pink: Girl problems, a bathroom mirror and your first trip to Lawrence. Not the most encouraging day for my future outlook.
• “Song for a Friend” by Jason Mraz: For those who don’t know, this is my favorite song of all time. I struggled last year with having great success but couldn’t bask in it with the ones I loved. The planets, this song and I were all lined up in perfect anguish.
• “Pieces” by Sum 41: Socially, high school is not a good time to be different. You try and try, but nothing works.
• “Like a Stone” by Audioslave: No song bleeds through its vocals and guitar more than this rock masterpiece. Death, solitude and salvation.
• “Snuff” by Slipknot: Holy sh*t. This is what I mean whenever I say I was addicted to “snuff.” I can’t even begin to tell you what led to that, so I won’t.
  You should watch the video. It’s a haunting portrayal of self-addiction and love. One of the best music videos I have seen, so take time to appreciate the artistry. It has some famous actors in it, too.