The Importance of Apologies

I saw a production of Mary Stewart on Broadway many years ago. I thought, why are we living in a time where you are apologizing for being moved by a piece of art? Why is that shameful? Yes. Sometimes I cry when I talk about this and sometimes I don't. But one thing I have learned is I don't apologize for crying when I do. It just really, really affected me. And since then, at the beginning of every semester, I talked to my students about kind of a basic needs statement in my syllabi saying, look, there are a lot of things way more important than any class you'll ever take.