The Blue in the Rainbow

My two-year-old nephew tantrums, and my sister does everything she can to quiet him. I know I shouldn’t judge her because I’m not a mom, but I can’t help but think, let him cry and calm himself down.

On NPR last week, I heard someone talking about how we can’t experience true happiness—what he called the full rainbow —unless we have some blue in our life.

I’m paraphrasing because I can’t find the interview, but this simple comment stuck with me.

If we’re in the midst of depression or sadness, it’s impossible to appreciate the darkness. And I’m not suggesting we should. But, once we’ve moved on to brighter days, it’s helpful to look back and realize that before we felt joy, contentment, ease, we were ever-so-familiar with darkness.

Without the blue, there’s no fiery red or giddy yellow. The rainbow, arched across the sky, astonishes us because it bands all of those colors together into one, beautiful whole.