A precious treasure

 

I am a huge fan of philosophical quotes. How can a box full of darkness be a gift? Though I didn't understand what this quote actually meant, I appreciated it so much for so many years. When you don't understand something that's widely acknowledged, it must be really something great, right !?

Life throws a hell lot of bright, shiny distractions at us to the point where it blinds our eyes and exhausts our optical nerves. In this blinding brightness, it becomes hard to differentiate between a piece of glass and a diamond. If certain treasures are packed inside not-so-shiny wrappers, our eyes won't even have a good chance to take a glimpse at the treasure and recognize it for what it is.

When I spent the golden years of my early and late twenties, angry at my fate for letting me be stuck in this dark box called life that doesn't even seem to have a way out, all motivational speeches and self-help books seemed to build my imagination of what life outside this box would be like. I was frantically trying to escape this box with all my might, only to lose my strength with every failed attempt.

This is a very lonely journey where people can give reassuring voices from outside the box. But no one holds your hands and walks with you during this journey of exploring the darkness around and within.

With the last ounce of strength and hope when you try to walk slowly and yet again stumble and fall down, you wouldn't even have the strength to cry or complain. You are so used to this fate. But something feels different within. You feel like a different person within yourself, with all the emotional scars.

Our parents may not have given us the emotional warmth that we crave all our lives. At our weakest and most vulnerable moment, we realize it's our parents who want to see us safe and happy. Despite their insensitive words and behaviours all the years, with all their flaws, their presence means so much.

When all your life experiences feel like a mirage and you are tired of life, parents' warm presence which you were blind to all the years, would feel like the precious treasure that could only be found within this intense, insane and all consuming darkness.