The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

This year, thus far, is made of the highest highs and lowest lows. In fact, it feels exactly like the start of Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

In January, I eloped in a beautiful ceremony in Denmark. Then, I had a serious health scare, culminating in my first-ever surgery. A few months later, two of my grandparents were diagnosed with cancer. Luckily, my husband and I were able to travel to the west coast to spend precious time with them, and a few days later, we had a beautiful wedding celebration with family and friends.

Life is full of ups and downs, but rarely do they happen in such extremes right on top of one another. On this emotional roller coaster, I am acutely aware of how much the good times are possible because of the bad times, and vice versa. If loved ones weren’t so dear, we wouldn’t miss them when they’re gone. Ill health reminds us to be deeply grateful when we are well.

It is the highs that define the lows, and the lows that define the highs.

All this leaves me overwhelmed by love and a renewed understanding of how fragile and fleeting life is. If nothing else, this year (thus far!) is a reminder of the certainty of beginnings and endings, and that this moment — right here, right now — is all we really ever have.

Published

Wonderful, Silly, Amazing Life

This post was originally published on the My Peacetree blog. Read more about these archives.

Last Tuesday evening, I was in a car accident. I remember the headlights coming straight towards me, growing alarmingly larger.

Miraculously, I’m not seriously injured. I walked away with a small scrape and several bruises, but the reality of it is that I was quite literally two feet away from death: the car crashed into the front right wheel well, a very short distance from where I was sitting in the front passenger seat.

It is this thought that is slowly growing to recognition in my mind – how by such narrow margins I’m walking, talking, and breathing today – and, to be honest, it’s incredibly difficult to wrap my head around. I’ve lost two close friends in the past few years, and another sweet friend recently had her own awakening to mortality. I am finding that I am more deeply saddened by these experiences than my own, and this surprises me.

Life is a funny thing. We grow so comfortable in our bodies and with the tiny details in our lives: the routine of coffee in the morning, the uncertainty of picking out the perfect outfit for a night out, the hustle to finish a project before a deadline. These little things become so important to us and often become the main focus of our lives; it’s so easy to forget how enormous the Universe is and how beautiful the world is.

We forget to enjoy food, music, and art as if it were the first time we were experiencing it. We forget how incredibly lucky we are to be here, experiencing this: with all its ups and downs, bad hair days, sadnesses and sufferings and mistakes, life is a grand adventure, filled with the most amazing things and the most lovely people.

Our mere existence is more wondrous than we could ever imagine.

Today I invite you to look at the world with new eyes and consider, no matter your circumstances, how magnificent it is to be alive.

Published