48 hours.

This past weekend was a difficult one to recover from. For reasons hard to explain, it was both wonderful and unsettling, a whirlwind of emotional highs and lows. In only 48 hours, I seemingly managed to traverse the entire spectrum of human emotion, and all that was left once I had made it through was gratitude. Gratitude for the life I lead and the people I have to share it with. To experience such love, excitement, and joy as I have the past few days (as well as time and time before) is truly a gift, but how meaningful could it really be if the occasional sadness did not exist?

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is the root of love and may very well be the saving grace of humanity. A practice that makes life worth living. If there's one thing that this weekend made clear to me, it's that we can all afford to be a little more empathetic. Even, and most especially, when it pains us.