I Would Rather Be In Bed

“There is not some exquisite beauty, without some strangeness on the proportion.” – Edgar Allan Poe

I always found it odd, call it poetic justice if you will, when a literary quote you’ve carried with you for so long finally clicks into place in your life. I could spin you a tale of my life told strictly from the viewpoint of quotes from one book to another, tie it up in a little bow and it would read like a Shakespearean tragedy. Or, more ironically, a Nicholas Sparks novel.

Everyone carries their own little tragedies and triumphs. It’s hard to remember that when comparing your life to another’s. That’s why you never should, what may seem like nothing to you could be earth shattering to another. Perspective, the things we’ve all survived, it’s the details that make the scale in our own mind of what’s terrible and what’s tolerable.

There’s this moment though, everyone has it. When triumph turns to tragedy, or tragedy turns to triumph. You may not notice it at first. It happens, little by little. Or even, one giant, cataclysmic event. Suddenly, life is different in a thousand ways. You look back with regret at a life you took for granted. Or, you finally breathe and realize how long you’ve been holding your breath wondering when it gets better.

Whichever side of the table you’re on, remember, life can’t be beautiful without the ugliness. There isn’t one without the other. There is no sunshine without the rain.

The rain has fallen in my life for a long time, there has been a lot of ugly. And I’ve wondered at Mr. Poe, with all that strangeness, when then exquisite beauty was going to show it’s face. It seems that the sun is peeking itself through the clouds and the flowers are starting to grow. The stars come out at night. Now, just now, the beauty is shining through.

As I look around and appreciate all the new changes, peace, and beauty growing in my life I can’t help but be quite sure that Edgar did know exactly what he was talking about. Without all the darkness, the light wouldn’t be quite so bright.