and the appearance of light? Sometimes, the mere difference of a single second between one event and another can be enough to turn our lives around one hundred and eighty degrees. When does love turn into hate? How is that point reached? What unleashes such a transformation? Do there have to be continuously repeated insults or assaults, or can just one isolated incident be destructive enough to end a loving relationship? In architecture, houses can crumble away little by little over the course of years; or they can be demolished in the blink of an eye by a powerful explosion. Cities and neighborhoods can be gradually transformed by time; or they can be devastated in an instant, in the few seconds that an earthquake lasts. A human being can go into a slow decline; or an unexpected bullet can erase him from the world in an instant. Similarly, deep inside us, the opinion we have of a person can grow over the years; or it can decline in a flash. Words of encouragement can bolster our own self-confidence; or wounding or insulting words can destroy it.
