I have spent the last five months near deaf in my right ear, and a month ago I lost much of my hearing in my left ear.
Today, I regained my hearing, and it is an enriching experience: Whereas before every sound was heavily cushioned and softened before I perceived it, I now hear every noise with above-average clarity. I have found how much life is filled with little, what most would call mundane or ugly sounds. As I sit typing now, however, every sound that I can now hear that I couldn't before -- the ticking grandfather clock, the machine gun of rapidly typing, the sounds of passing trucks, the clacking of shoes on the floor -- all seem to add to the cliche of the richness of appreciation. Even the sound of my own voice is strange to me now, somehow clearer； my head no longer reverberates as I speak, and, according to my parents, I am speaking more loudly again -- which is because I now can hear what I am saying, and so can pitch my voice more effectively than before. The sounds I can hear and the abilities I have regained make me consider the idea that there is (forgive me for what may seem like an excessively sentimental description) beauty is existence. I am grateful and I am happier simply because I can perceive reality more thoroughly before.
Conversely, I have also become more aware of just how discordant sounds are. My ears were filled with an omnipresent ringing which, although a little boring, was harmonious. Every sound I hear now seems misplaced and coarse. Diversity and reality are both difficult to comprehend and tolerate, and it has led me to think of my opposition to diversity in new terms. Diversity is natural occurrence, but this does not make it any more beautiful. While it is a part of reality, it is, like disease, a part of reality that we must move to eradicate. So we can see, there is beauty in harmony, and there is beauty in the diversity; there is monotony in harmony, and there are danger and discomfort in diversity. These two must be balanced. Thus what is needed is harmony amongst all people, and diversity amongst some. And since harmony secures diversity, we must also ensure that diversity cannot encroach on harmony. The solution to this varies at every level of every society, but the largest scale must not be the globe, since that would entail monotony. The nation is the solution. Add this to the list of arguments in favor of retaining the nation and nationalism: The nation is the largest, most convenient unit of humanity that allows for both harmony and diversity.
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