Everyday Canvas

Curses and Blessings

Prompt: “One of the most persistent narrative patterns in literature, including journalism, is the manner in which a curse can become a blessing and a blessing can become a curse.”
John Casey, Beyond the First Draft
What do you think about this quote and what about real life? Can you pinpoint instances in life, yours or in the life of someone you know, when a blessing and a curse exchanged places?

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Sometimes a curse-- in other words a tragedy-- can bring people together and unite a fragmented family or group. In this way, that curse can become a blessing. Then, while a person is trying to deal with a curse, he or she can discover the strengths hidden inside him or her. Unfortunately, most of the time, we dwell on the negatives and cannot see the positives that may be hiding inside those negatives.

Surely, a blessing can be a curse, too. A charge card for example that gives a young person some freedom in getting the things he or she wants, but if she or he isn’t careful with the spending, his or her future will signal a risk of bankruptcy. Then if a windfall can open a person to the criminals’ activities, due to his or her enriched status, that blessing of a windfall can easily turn into a curse to threaten even his or her life.

All religious thought believes that God can turn curses into blessings for those who heed God’s word. Whether we trust in any one form of religion or not, I believe our deep sense of caring should push us to be better people. If our reactions are based on what is positive for everyone concerned, all curses may easily turn into blessings on their own or through God’s hand if you are a believer.

I have witnessed this happening in my life and in the lives of the people I am close to. If, for example, we hadn't moved to Florida, our son wouldn't have met our daughter-in-law, who is a wonderful person. We moved to Florida because I grew highly allergic to ragweed, developing serious asthma. At first, I came here alone during the ragweed season. Then, when my husband retired, we moved altogether. Our older son had already moved out of the house, then. He opted to stay in NY, but the younger one came with us. The move was a blessing for the three of us, I think. At least, we don't have a 300 feet of snow to shovel several times every winter.