Life is beautiful, ain’t it? You take a walk by the ocean with your partner during golden hour, and everything is serene and just breathtaking. The city behind you is blushing, and the clear blue sky of midday turns into a heavenly blanket, revealing a thousand stars that were all along, shining alongside our sun. You open your phone, and a pop-up notification appears on your screen: a creatively-named hurricane has made landfall in a  location you do not know about. The hurricane started its destructive journey from the same ocean you and your partner are strolling by. On one beach, all is well, and on the other, a bedlam.  

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In that instant, you wonder: Is that destruction also beautiful — the powerful waves  crashing our houses and taking everything we have spent a lifetime building back to the ocean as if they never mattered? What about the wildfires that have razed people’s homes —  containing irreplaceable stories and memories — to the ground in a matter of minutes? What  about wars and genocides? Racism and sexism? Do we still think life is beautiful when chaos is the order of the day? For most of us, the beauty around us stops when chaos and confusion start. But, should that be the case?  

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You and I will never understand why troubles are abundant in our lives. We can use all the technology and science, but the cosmos will never reveal its secrets. Politics, theology, and philosophy will not provide you with any comfort either. Voodoo and astrology will leave you equally unsatisfied. Once that last whisper of hope is silenced, and we have run out of  places to search, we painfully learn that we are surrounded by nothing but dead ends. 

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At that point, we are left with one place to look for answers — in the eye of the storm.  The things that define us as humans: love, hope, faith, compassion, and unity are found right  there at the center of chaos. We must look into the storm's eye and scream, “Hope is my  anthem,” or “Love alone is worth the Fight.” We ought to declare our “beauty” to let the storm know that we still believe life is beautiful. Our voices have to be louder than the fury of our storms. 

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We are not tasked to look for a reason for the cacophonies in our lives. We are not meant to get it right — no, we are meant to live, and living is fighting for what you love, right in the middle of the storm. It is not just a battle; it is a lifelong war. Ultimately, you discover what you are truly made of. Sounds scary, right? We call it living, and it is beautiful.

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