I’ve heard the song of life a million times before, and as though compared to infinity, a million is practically none. I’ve learned to walk, to talk, almost to sleep. I’ve survived, and not survived – my skin, at times, no longer fit my face and I grew tangled feelings about talking and dreaming, my mouth and eyes open most of the time, yet I saw and said nothing until I came through, to the other side of the sky…the place where I learned that if I figured out a way to cherish the pain - to integrate it –then it became invaluable and precious. The same place where I learned that the vast realm of human emotion, the extremes of pure pain and pure bliss is relevant and in all of it, there are lessons to be learned. There were times I wasn’t and still am not sure what the lessons were, but I am confident that they exist. I garnered the strength to overcome the pain, but only after figuring out that I didn’t have a patent on pain, that pain is relative and everyone has it; albeit the details may differ between people, but mine is no more or less than anyone else’s. This realization afforded me compassion, empathy and solace, as well as the ability to laugh at the absurdities in life, the instances that make absolutely no sense, the knowledge that what seems unbearable today will be humorous tomorrow.