Some days are simply harder than others. And some *weeks* are harder than others...

So I was chatting with my friend Ann the therapist, and we were talking about this thing we call life, and the way we seem to experience both joys and hardships in *"cycles."*

![0716-LavenderGrass2.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPLKmTQ8vWxvGft2rqqgV8bQGHnzgvUCgYNDTTXyKvA3F/0716-LavenderGrass2.jpg)

A good friend of ours passed away on February 2nd, following an extended battle with cancer. Which was pretty heartbreaking, but I have been trying to stay true to something she always spoke of: That she *"didn't want a bunch of people sitting around moping because I'm gone... but if you want to throw down a few beers while listening to heavy metal in my name? That would be fine!"*

*"Let the dead bury the dead,"* an old truism goes.

Unrelated, I got a message this morning that the old family artwork we'd sent to Denmark to be sold... well, it had arrived safely, but one of the items — which we had hoped (based on early estimates) would sell for about $5,000 — has turned out to be *"not a big deal."*

On my way to town to run some errands, my phone pings at me a couple of times so I pull off to read the message. Because I am not one of those douchecanoes who texts while driving. 

The message is from a friend of a friend... that the *husband* of aforesaid dead friend was airlifted to Swedish Hospital in Seattle and is in *"critical"* condition due to untreated cysts around his stomach, pancreas and liver. The prognosis is *"not good."*

![0734-Sunset.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPpCTjvikR1Aj3Ntbg94WRDno9ZVcqaoPTaAWnAPbM37K/0734-Sunset.jpg)

So I get home and am trying to parse all this in some version of *"good spirits"* (and I don't mean vodka!) when my moments of respite in the form of poking around Steemlandia for a bit are shattered when I come across **@mariandavp's** tribute post to my friend and long-time Steemian Paul **@onceuponatime** who left our plane of existence earlier today.

My mind went back to earlier in the day, and talking to Ann... and the question *"When do we catch a BREAK??"* popped back into my head. It came at the end of my observation that life often feels like one continuous long stream of tragedies, punctuated by a few small moments of joy. 

We talked about *proportion," in terms of what happens... and I'm not talking about to *ME*, specifically... but to *all* of us.

Sometimes things just feel *"out of balance."* 

![0751-SedonaCreek.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQDEys2Tnbe982jMNRGekKqBnDAnA6i9fMuK3Rd5FQNnJ/0751-SedonaCreek.jpg)

On the *negative* side, someone dies of cancer, someone is seriously ill, your friend goes bankrupt and is forced to live in a tent.

On the *positive* side, you had a really good cookie, you found a penny in a parking lot, and apples were on sale at the market.

Doesn't seem quite *proportional,* does it.

And so... that's the thought I will go away and ponder, before the hole known as *"today"* becomes any deeper.

Thanks for reading, and may your days be filled with good things!

*(Another **#creativecoin** creative non-fiction post)*

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Created at 20200211 23:56 PST*
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