Do you have permission to waltz?

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeI've always been an "easy crier", someone who tears up over minor things. I'm so bad I get choked up over Hallmark card ads and dogfood commercials. Today I read an interesting column by film critic Roger Ebert about "elevation", studies of how our vagus nerve comes into play in emotional moments and why certain things trigger this response.

It was especially timely, because I experienced this elevation response yesterday while watching the news coverage of the US Airways plane in the Hudson. Captain Sullenberger demonstrated the qualities that define true heroism--competence, coolheadedness, putting others before self (he walked the plane twice before being the last person to leave). In addition, the ferry boat crew members demonstrated their own coolness and competence, putting into action the training they'd received for just such an emergency.

Someone asked me once if I cry over my own scenes.

"Definitely. If I can't get an emotional response from myself, then I'm doing something wrong."