There is always beauty in this world

There is always beauty in this world, even when the most terrible events happen. Look around and you will see it. This world is the world of opposites, so even in the ugly, there is beauty.

When I was twenty-two, I worked in the West Bank. One day there was this protest against border checks for Palestinian kids attending school. Soon it became violent and the police started firing rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowds.

When you are caught in something like this, you don’t know if the police are shooting real bullets or rubber ones, so everyone runs to hide. Plus, the tear gas burns like hell if breathed in.

Anyways, I hid behind a car. Laid flat on my back. The tear gas and smoke were thick above me and the sounds of screaming and firing rang through my body. It was like an abstract film, terrifying and surreal but yet far off in the distance, happening in a different world.

As I laid still, not knowing my fate, I pried open my eyes. Sunbeams broke through the tear gas and danced with the smoke. It was beautiful. Like early morning mist rising from the river, playing joyfully with the light. Anyway, I made it out not hurt. Or maybe I did die but life just carried on as if I hadn't 😆.

But my point being, no matter how dark life events get, beauty is here, supporting that. It is the other side of the coin.