I still vividly recall the day I saw the Eiffel Tower in Paris for the very first time, some six months ago. Man, how it soars with grandeur towards the heavens evoking both excitement and trepidation within me even if the truth is, initially I went there for the sake of just being there. In all fairness, it was commanding with grace and love, as rumor has it. But who would have thought that Parisians themselves, who now hold it dear(?) once despised its very existence? Let’s pretend not to mention the amount of cash it rakes.
When the proclamation rolled upon the streets of Paris in 1880s declaring the imminent erection of this iron monument, dissent and disapproval filled the air. The citizens, so deeply rooted in their traditional architectural aesthetics recoiled in disdain. They deemed the project an abomination, an eyesore, called it names from belfry skeleton to tragic street light, and the list goes. They thought it would defile the city's elegance, le choc de la modernité, they must be. Even Guy de Maupassant hated it so much that he would spend his lunch in one of its restaurants, as it's the sole place he couldn't see it, which is downright, brutally mean. Long story short, the resistance was fervent. And the government's vision stood on shaky ground. However, as time progressed, some remarkable transformation unfolded. Plot twist, so to say.
Defying doubts and prejudices, the Eiffel Tower
soared higher day by day, captivating the once-hostile Paris people with its striking
presence against the city's skyline. It shone with an irresistible
charm that transformed dissent into admiration; truly a belabored-doubts-and-vanquish-whilom perfect example. Later, the tower became an emblem of Paris and its people's identity, symbolizing pride, resilience, unity, and all other clichés there is. Not to mention, again, the influx of cha-ching-cha-ching.
Life indeed has ironic ways of surprising sometimes; of revealing valuable treasures from unlikely and unwanted beginnings. Initially resistant to change, we may struggle to see the good in the unfamiliar. Yet, life works in mysterious ways, unearthing hidden gems previously obscured from our sight. After all, it's human nature to at first resist things we don't fully understand.
From a hotly criticized genesis, Eiffel Tower is more than just a building now. It counts as an enduring success story (whether we like it or not) representing part of our own personal journeys — of embracing the unknown, of finding beauty in unexpected places, and of embracing such transformations.
