Where do your eyes go first when you look at this photo? On the one hand we might notice a smartly dressed woman sneaking a bit of a snack as she waits for traffic to clear. Patient but ready, dressed to impress. On the other, maybe your vision went to the truck lumbering by with mud caked to its sides and back. Not the most glamorous object, but designed for a day’s hard work. From glance to glance our focus can change until we back up and take in the whole scene. The woman and the truck, existing as two parts of an intriguing whole. By themselves each of these pieces might draw a brief look and nothing more. They would make for a fine picture of everyday objects; but the true details of them can only be fully appreciated when paired in one frame together. The same thing can be said for our own life experiences. Our time on earth is a blend of things good and bad that must coexist together in order to be truly appreciated, felt, and learned from. We discover the level of our personal strength during our toughest times. Pain and loss are feelings we don’t easily forget, yet without them the splashes of wonderful in our story wouldn’t be quite as bright. It’s the sweet moments of success and joy that help take the edge out of the times we start to feel too frayed to stay together. Instead of feeling bogged down by the dirt and grime, we are able to see it as a passing necessity of a life being lived. A reminder of where we have been, and why our current moment really is so great. Our ability to find the real beauty in life’s perfect pieces thrives on the contrast of existing in a world where sometimes things are dim, or as in the case of this passing truck, a fair bit messy. So, let’s embrace it.