IT AIN'T PRETTY

What is it about looking at the past that always makes things seem so much better? Why do we sometimes remember all the good memories...and omit the bad? How is it that pain can simply fade with time? It ends up being a dichotomy of memory or expectation versus reality. Maybe idealization. Maybe it is the fact that we control things in our heads..because we can't in actuality. How much easier it is to view the world through the filter of our mind, than with straightforward truth. We rationalize, embellish, pretend, ignore...and we are good at it. At least I am. For example, I tell myself I am safe. Reality is...I am not, nor ever will be here on earth. An earthquake could happen any moment. My house could be robbed. My heart could stop beating. But I ignore this truth most of the time for my own peace of mind. I don't necessarily think that looking at life all the time as unsafe is the answer..or healthy. But it is slightly disturbing that when I sit down and think about it...am I really living in reality...or in my own self-created world? I think when difficult or painful situations hit us...it shakes us out of our "reality" into what is really real. We are not in control. And as pretty as we can make things look in our head...sometimes life is just not pretty. I'll stick with my nostalgic thoughts for now though...enough morbidity for a day. Sweet dreams. Hah.