Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: M is for Melancholy, Baby

In general, I am a pretty happy person.  I laugh all the time, I smile a lot, and I can start a conversation with darn near anyone.  I am laid back and easy going.  I think happiness is one of the greatest things ever.  However, I fully believe that in order to fully appreciate happiness, you need to experience sadness.  For years after graduate school, I was terribly lonely.  I lived alone, in a strange city.  The only people I knew were the people I worked with, and most of them were married with families.  I did not have many friends, and other than the occasional date, I did not have anyone keeping me company, other than my cat.  In short, I spent many years being pretty melancholy.

Even though I am no longer lonely, because I have a husband whom I adore, as well as wonderful friends and family, pesky but adorable pets, and I job that makes me super happy, I still appreciate the beauty that can be found inside melancholy.  Some of the greatest stories in the world have dark, melancholic tones.  Some of the places I deem most beautiful are places that others see as stark and sad.  And the music, oh the music; I adore a piece of music that can move me to tears.

Life is never all good or all bad, all light or all darkness, all joy or all despair.  It is by experiencing both ends of the spectrum that we truly feel, and truly live.  So, as I sit here with a life full of abundant happiness, I reflect on the sadness I have endured in my own life, the struggles of the others around me, and the beauty that can be found therein.