Grief is a lens with which to increase focus

As Kathryn Schulz remarks in "Our Lives Are an Endless Series of ‘And’," "Grief is just an amazing lens. Its capacity for sharp focus is incredible."We often see this in poetry and art, where loss brings about clarity—seeing things as they actually are, rather than what we hope them to be. It is an almost ubiquitous experience amongst living creatures.

Why doesn't happiness or feelings of contentment elicit a similar response to that of grief? Is it because grief—sadness, pain, loss in all its forms—is something each human understands at a core level? After all, we all experience death, both loved ones and our own. Perhaps happiness is too subjective and ephemeral? Grief is a shrinking in of oneself, a pulling inward, which allows that type of intense focus.