I tried to post this last night, but we had yet another thunderstorm, and the internet went out. Also, apologies in advance; I think this is even more awful and depressing than my usual posts.
The title of this post is a line from The Fault in Our Stars, in which Hazel is talking about the pain scale they use in hospitals. She talks about calling the most intense pain she has experienced a nine because she was "saving her ten." That kind of got me thinking about the nature of pain, both emotional and physical. You may not agree with me here but, personally, I don't think it's the "great and terrible ten" that really get's to people. I think it's the ever-present three. You see, there is something inherently beautiful in deep, intense, feelings either good or bad; joy and grief, ecstasy and anguish. It's those dull, nagging pains; the disappointment, the loneliness, the boredom, the frustration, that really hurt the most in the end because they are always there, reminding you that you can never get rid of them. They slowly suck the life out of us, while great and terrible pain can, sometimes, serve to remind us that we are alive.
The title of this post is a line from The Fault in Our Stars, in which Hazel is talking about the pain scale they use in hospitals. She talks about calling the most intense pain she has experienced a nine because she was "saving her ten." That kind of got me thinking about the nature of pain, both emotional and physical. You may not agree with me here but, personally, I don't think it's the "great and terrible ten" that really get's to people. I think it's the ever-present three. You see, there is something inherently beautiful in deep, intense, feelings either good or bad; joy and grief, ecstasy and anguish. It's those dull, nagging pains; the disappointment, the loneliness, the boredom, the frustration, that really hurt the most in the end because they are always there, reminding you that you can never get rid of them. They slowly suck the life out of us, while great and terrible pain can, sometimes, serve to remind us that we are alive.
There a line from the song Gentleman's Pact by Conor Oberst that goes
Life's not fair
I tried to die young with my true love
ended up a millionaire.
I know it sounds kind of absurd, but I get it. There is definitely something to be said for experiencing the bliss of true love and the pain of death, and skipping all the mind-numbing mediocrity in between.
I think I agree. The threes just wear you down day after day. There's nothing to learn or gain from them. Bigger pains can teach something.
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