welcome to brb crying, a weekly newsletter where two thirty-something teenagers talk about what made them cry. laugh along as we dive into what moves us to tears (movies! books! personal stories! tbh anything is fair game!) and why crying helps us connect with ourselves and each other. check out the pod for more.
💌 dear diary reader
after my mind races through approximately 273 worst-case scenarios, i take a deep breath and ever so bravely answer the phone.
“hey, dad,” i say, in, like, a super chill, relaxed, nonchalant way.
“hey, anak, how are you?” anak means “my child” in tagalog.
“i’m okay. just finishing up my lunch break before i have to log back on to work. what’s up? why did you call?”
and my dad says, “oh, no reason. i just miss your voice.”
my dad just missed the sound of my voice. that’s all.
i’ve spent so much time over the last, i don’t know, decade? microanlyzing the complexities of our relationship, examining all my childhood and generational trauma with a fine-toothed comb. bracing myself to face pressured obligations, bravely setting up boundaries and tight-roping the line between keeping the peace and wanting to be heard, walking around with my head up my ass thinking that i’ve figured everything out.
it’s so silly because i’ve felt their love for me every second i’ve been alive. and yet i find a way to overcomplicate it. because very simply put, i can do anything, think anything, assume anything, and no matter what—if it’s been too long, my dad will miss the sound of my voice…
👉🏼 LISTEN TO THE FULL EP 022: DAD DA DAN…
🙉 other highlights from this week’s pod
✨ARNS IS WRECKED BY ANIME DAN DA DAN
some actually v serious takeaways from an anime about a popular girlie turned psychic + a nerd turned superhero trying to get his balls back from a demon:
there are so many times we wish we could be more or do more, especially for the people we love. it’s so easy to give into these feelings of inadequacy, to fall victim to this narrative that we aren’t enough.
as much as it’s up to us to find that worthiness within ourselves, we sometimes forget how powerful and healing others’ words can be. we don’t even realize how much our souls are just longing to be witnessed, how much we need to know that our lives—however small—meant something to someone, that it wasn’t in vain.
so to anyone who needs to hear this—regardless of what you accomplish, or what the world does or doesn’t think you amount to: you love, so you matter.
✨ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY
leave us a (5-star) review on Apple and (get a chance to) win a brb crying hat! all you have to do is take a screenshot and DM it to us, email it to us, respond to this email, mail it by carrier pidgeon, etc. we’ll be picking a winner at the end of feb.
✨NEXT WEEK’S SPECIAL
next week is valentine’s day, so we’re getting a lil ~lovey~. stay tuned!
that’s it. that’s all we got. we can’t wait to hear from you. ok bye love you!!!
in shambles,
nins & arns