tears of grief

i’m fascinated by the research of rose-lynn fisher on the topography of tears.  have you seen this? 

it’s a study of 100 photographed tears through a standard light microscope.  going through a period of change and loss.  rose-lynn wondered if tears of grief differed from tears of happiness.  and, as you can see the images are nothing short of beautiful, some evoking the look of a map or landscape (thus the name of the project, topography of tears).

tears of release

onion tears

tears of change

tears of endings and beginnings

after my initial awe of the concept and the beauty found in the intricacy and detail, i began to think of the tears in a personal way.  how each of these studied tears were not just a specimen for a project but shed out of emotion. these tears are someone’s true story. raw, real life experiences, whether excruciating or exhilarating.  my mind wondered off to the words penned in psalms where david wrote:

“you keep track of all of my sorrows.  you have collected all of my tears in your bottle.  you have recorded each one in your book.”

perhaps this is how each and every one of our tears are being recorded?  not in list but in landscape.  the landscape of our lives.  noticed, collected and recorded.  it’s brings such an amazing visual to the idea that not one thing about you goes unnoticed in your every days.  your endings.  your beginnings.  your grief.  your joy.  your change.  your elation. and, so the list and landscape goes on and on.  your tears are as individual as your pain and your joy.  if anything this is yet more imagery portraying what beauty can be found in (and come out of) brokenness.

are you are crier?  i am.  having kids has only increased this emotion.  but, i’m ok with it.  sometimes you just need to have a good cry.

you can see more types of tear topography here.

images / rose-lynn fisher