“Still, it is better to suffer.”

Inspired, like Reflection, by back when I saw Princess Kaguya. Recent conversation sparked by Zero's blog post prompted me to actually write it.

There is a place, far above the clouds, where there is no pain, no want, no hunger.

Legends paint it as a reward, but it is not a place of judgement. It is separated, out of necessity. But many find it, nevertheless.

Still, it is better to suffer.

It is a wondrous place, full of gleaming palaces and marble temples, statues and paintings of ageless perfection. There is food there, and plenty of it, with delicate, balanced, sublime flavors. It is never cold, nor hot.

Still, it is better to suffer.

There is love there, in their fashion. It is not born of want, of need, of refuge and protection. It is a warmth of acceptance, universal and without distinction.

Still, it is better to suffer.

There is no decay, no entropy. The fruits appear ripe and never rot. No stair ever crumbles, no railing ever rusts. There is never need to mourn a beloved pet.

Still, it is better to suffer.

Why else would anyone leave that place, come to this world full of so many things? There is beauty there, and love, but it is not the beauty and love born of struggle, of life.

You may find solace there, for a time. If you are broken, betrayed, abused, certainly. But even if not, just the same. Who does not sometimes seek to flee the world?

But like as not, when you have grown full and warm with the light, you will realize as I have.

That it is better to suffer.

And perhaps you will descend the secret paths and rejoin those, still lost, below.