Another poem. When I was younger, I liked consider depression as a condition which helped me appreciate the highs and lows of life. Depression takes you to such depths, it was comforting to imagine it has some positive effect, of making joy-filled moments more poignant and meaningful. This poem reminded me of that.
Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let the glory out.
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
Only the soul that knows the mighty grief
Can know the mighty rapture. Sorrows come
To stretch out spaces in the heart for joy.Edwin Markham