Reaching the lowest lows gives you a different appreciation for the highs. When you’ve truly looked rock bottom in the eyes, nothing or nobody can take that away from you, no matter what heights and accolades you reach. It’s a deeply personal place for everyone, wall to wall full of your mistakes, your shadows and the parts of yourself that were never nurtured. Once you’ve genuinely had a long stay in this place, cleaned up the cobwebs and dusted a little, is when you can leave triumphed and forever changed.

That taste of despair and darkness cleanses the palate for the times of delight and discovery. It gives you a certain perspective, a light on things that can’t be produced through anything else. It tugs on you whenever you have moments of joy, but never to bring you back down. It pulls on your insides and goes “hey, remember when we had it bad? Look where we are now.”

I sometimes wonder what it is like to go through life receiving the good without ever having felt the bad. I’m not sure I care to truly know. My pain, my traumas, my experiences, all envelop me and guide me towards the light. I would not have the mind and consciousness I have today without those. Every taste of joy and glamour is even sweeter because of them and I wouldn’t have it any other way.