it's not so much a roller coaster... maybe more of a tea cup?

i used to think that life was like a chart, with highs and lows, moments of extrapolation and interpolation. but i'm starting to think this whole cycle of life concept may be much more accurate. it's cyclical and in constant motion, sometimes revisiting the same spot over and over again.

life... it's not so much a roller coaster, which basically is either going up or down. it's more like the tea cups in disney world... moments of calm and moments of feeling pulled in all different directions while moving very fast. i think it's important to say at this point in my analogy that i do love the tea cups. i love the feeling of knowing that the whole ride is about to change and knowing that i have no control over it. i love knowing that as long as i hold on tight and ride out the wild parts, everything will be okay.

i like thinking of life this way because it opens up how we experience it. a roller coaster type of image creates a clear delineation between good and bad; everything over the center is good and anything under is bad. but it just doesn't work that way.

"when it is darkest, you can see the stars."

what a powerful statement. when we are most vulnerable, we feel the most. when we are saddest, we most easily recognize a moment of joy. when we are wrapped in darkness, even the tiniest beam of light can bring us back to life.

life is a tea cup. it spins, one way and the other in no apparent order. just when you think you are going left, you suddenly swing right. when you are sure the ride is over, it speeds up. you move in what seems to be a circle, but cover new ground all the time. sometimes, your teacup seems stuck... and maybe it is. you have to try something new, and until you do, your teacup sits, motionless. the ride goes on, but your teacup is just watching the other teacups go by. and perhaps most importantly, despite the moments of nausea and frustration, the ride is pretty damn fun.

so i'm going to sit in my teacup and allow life- in all its glory- to take me on one wild ride.