"Time is a beautiful thing. It's like when you meet an old lover on the street six years later and they don't look so ugly anymore"

Time possesses a transformative power that changes perceptions, emotions, and memories. When confronted with someone from the past, especially an old lover, the grievances, heartbreak, or judgments that once colored that relationship no longer feel as sharp or absolute. The passage of years allows for reflection, healing, and maturity, gently eroding the pain or resentment that may have once defined an ex-lover’s image. The phrase "they don't look so ugly anymore" is not strictly about physical appearance but references the fading of negative feelings and harsh judgments. The faults or tensions that seemed so prominent in the throes of the relationship and immediately after the breakup have softened with time’s gentle intervention.

Meeting an old lover on the street after six years becomes an emblem of how emotional distance can change perspective. The beauty of time lies in its ability to provide a new lens, one of empathy, understanding, or even indifference, transforming the old, perhaps bitter, narrative. Time brings about acceptance, either of the other person's flaws or of the relationship's end. That person, who once triggered strong emotional responses, is now just another person living their life, no longer haunted or idealized by memory.

Sarah McLachlan’s words also carry a message of forgiveness, towards others and oneself. The initial ugliness, often a projection of unresolved wounds, reduces in intensity as those wounds heal. The transformation is not merely about the other person; it’s about one’s own growth, letting go of past hurts, and gaining the perspective to see the story in its entirety rather than through the lens of pain. Ultimately, time’s beauty is its ability to grant freedom from old narratives, to see beyond anguish and discover peace, even where there was once turbulence. This encounter, brief as it may be, stands as proof that things change and with it, the people we were, the love we lost, and the perspectives we hold.