You know. I remember reading Tale of Two Cities a long time ago. Though Dickens isn't always the easiest read I must say I enjoyed the book. For those of you not inclined to read historical novels, you may still be familiar with the opening line of the book:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"

How intriguing is that? I remember thats what pulled me to the book in the first place. Long before English Lit I was intrigued by that first line. I still am, though I feel I may finally understand what dickens was saying. Before, I found it to be contradictory... the possibility that the book could not make up it's mind, or, in fact, was describing two very different places simultaneously. As for how it applies to Tale of Two Cities, I suggest you grab a copy. But if your curious how it applies to me, and possibly you read on...

I'm not even sure why the line popped into my head again. It was just there late one night. No external source suggested it too me. I just lay awake in bed, thinking about my day (which surprisingly didn't include Dickens), and there it was, in all its opening paragraph glory:

"IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way"

Deep, huh?

So even if you give jack crap about the Fench and their Revolution, the paragraph is still kick ass. I would have been a pretty cool teacher talking about Dicken's literary style in terms such as "kick ass", but I digress...

See, things really can be the best and the worst simultaneously. That's my theory on why Dickens not only capitalized the first letter of the first word in his novel (like a good writer should), but capitalized the first two words... IT WAS. That way when you ask "Could it really be the best and the worst together" like a moron, Dickens could simply yell "IT WAS" and you would hafta shut up.

So how does this apply to the non-french, non-revolutionaries, and non-readers? Consider a dramatic time in your life. Not a good time per se, nor a bad time, but a time that is "dramatic". My theory will start to make sense. Drama is not good happening in comparison to boring, nor bad happening when things are already bad. Drama is when they become so intertwined you don't know where things begin or end.

For instance... You have a slightly used car and buy a brand new car. Thats great. Good for you. But no drama.

You have an old beater and it breaks down on your way to work. That sucks. Hope you don't get fired for being late, but alas, no drama.

Your best friend dies and leaves you a fortune. A-HA! Drama. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".

Now, with examples in hand, remember a dramatic event in your life. Perhaps something you pervieve very negatively or something hard to get past. Read Dicken's paragraph above. I hope it worked for you like it did for me.

I'm no psychologist, but I think some of us are cursed with pulling the negative out of a situation. We start defining "drama" as "negative", but it is not. Drama is life. Please don't mix it up with silly relationship "drama" which is usually brought on by stupidity, lies, and bad people. I'm talking about real life drama....

A grandmother with incurable cancer passes in the night - It's a time of mourning and a time to be relieved that she will no longer suffer.

A man is depressed to learn his wife is divorcing him, but later finds true love - Starting to see a pattern here?

Good and bad can't exist on their own. To paraphrase a man whose name I cannot remember at the moment... In order to obtain something, you must pass through it's opposite. That's drama.

So enjoy life. See the big picture. You may realize looking back on your entire life it could be summed up as "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Pass through the bad and you will achieve the good.