{"id":4453,"date":"2025-07-24T15:08:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=4453"},"modified":"2025-07-24T15:08:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:38:44","slug":"why-i-cry-during-sunsets-and-other-normal-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/?p=4453","title":{"rendered":"Why I Cry During Sunsets (And Other Normal Things)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I\u2019ve never really had the right words to explain what I feel during certain moments. But maybe I don\u2019t need perfect words, because the truth is, I just. And sometimes, those feelings come out in the form of tears. Not because I\u2019m sad, but because I\u2019m overwhelmed by how soft and full<\/em> life can be. Like during sunsets. I don\u2019t know why exactly, but something about sunsets gets to me. Maybe it\u2019s how everything slows down for a while. How the sky changes colours from oranges to pinks to purples, and suddenly, it\u2019s like my heart exhales. I hold it together all day, and somehow, the sky letting the sun so gently makes me let go. Or maybe it\u2019s just the peace. The sense that, for a few minutes, the world is holding its breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cry during sunsets because it reminds me that I made it through another day, even if it was messy or hard. They also show me that there\u2019s still beauty left in the world, even when things feel heavy. And sometimes, against all odds and all logic, I cry because I still hope. As much as sunsets can look like endings, I think they\u2019re actually about beginnings. Bern Williams once said it best, \u201cIt is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s not just sunsets, though. I find myself crying during what most people would call \u201cnormal things.\u201d A warm cup of coffee on a rainy day. A view of mountains that somehow makes me feel like I belong there. The sound of birds early in the morning before the world starts rushing. Flowers blooming in random corners. Waves crashing while I sit quietly, just being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it\u2019s something really simple. Like when a toddler runs up to me with their arms wide open, or when a small kid hugs me out of nowhere. When I smile at someone, and they smile back. Or when a stranger compliments my outfit or the way I\u2019ve styled my hijab, not just for how it looks, but because they see<\/em> me. I don\u2019t know how, but those moments make me emotional. They make me feel seen, appreciated and alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a particular kind of emotion that hits me when I see two people in love, not just in<\/em> love, but also individually thriving, chasing their dreams, building their careers and making time for each other without holding the other back. That kind of love makes me believe that maybe it is<\/em> possible to have both ambition and softness. Dreams and love. And maybe one day, I\u2019ll have that too. I\u2019ve cried while opening textbooks, too. It\u2019s not just exam stress (although that\u2019s very real). It\u2019s more about knowing I\u2019m studying something that generations of girls before me didn\u2019t always get to. There was a time when women weren\u2019t expected to take up space in classrooms or boardrooms. So every time I feel overwhelmed, I remind myself, I\u2019m here because they weren\u2019t. And even when it\u2019s hard, I carry that with pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some days, it\u2019s the little things that hit me. Finishing a really good book after a long day. Having to wake up early when I really just want to sleep in, or when Monday rolls around and I feel like I\u2019m still catching my breath. Sometimes I cry when I have to leave home after the holidays, packing my bags and going back to my \u201chome away from home\u201d is never easy. It\u2019s that weird ache of missing something while still being grateful for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And honestly, I get emotional just looking out the window during rush hour: so many people and so many lives. Every person walking past me has their own struggles, memories, heartbreaks and joys. Everyone\u2019s carrying something silently, and sometimes just knowing that is enough to make me tear up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And then there\u2019s the dreamer in me. I cry because I dream deeply, wildly, and sometimes beyond what feels possible. I dream of walking through cherry blossoms in Japan, roaming the souks of Marrakech with a film camera, eating a pain au chocolate<\/em> while strolling by the Seine, sipping chai at a roadside stall in India and tasting freshly made pasta in a Nonna<\/em>-Run restaurant in Rome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want slow mornings in a Parisian apartment with fresh croissants, quiet moments in a Viennese caf\u00e9 with a slice of Sacher torte, the chaos of Times Square and caffeine-fueled walks through Hyde Park. I want to experience the thrill of an F1 race weekend at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi and run barefoot along a white sand beach in Australia, with sand sticking to my skin and not a care in the world. I want to chase hot air balloons at golden hour in Cappadocia and zipline over the forests of Montenegro. I want it all. And sometimes, just wanting<\/em> makes me emotional because wanting means I still believe there\u2019s more out there for me: more beauty, more life, more moments that will make me cry in all the best ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then reality checks me. So instead, I open LinkedIn and start looking for jobs because dreams need funding, apparently. Still, even when life gets practical, the dreamer in me refuses to dim. And that contrast between reality and possibility that quiet hope that I\u2019ll one day get to live all the stories I see in my head is enough to make me cry, too. And honestly, that\u2019s life. It\u2019s not always big events or huge turning points. Sometimes it\u2019s just a sunset. A soft memory. A baby\u2019s laugh. A stranger\u2019s smile. A compliment that stays with you all day. A friend who texts, \u201cDid you get home safe?\u201d A kind cashier. A good cup of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big dreams and small glimpses of the life you\u2019re building even if you\u2019re not there yet. I do cry during sunsets and a bunch of other normal things. And honestly, I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve never really had the right words to explain what I feel during certain moments. But maybe I don\u2019t need perfect words, because the truth is, I just. And sometimes, those feelings come out in the form of tears. Not because I\u2019m sad, but because I\u2019m overwhelmed by how soft and full life can be. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124181,"featured_media":4450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[200],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4458,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4453\/revisions\/4458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gavel.cmb.ac.lk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}