On the Shortness of Life

There’s something really profound about finding yourself thriving in the mundane. Like just genuinely looking at a leaf or something that is extremely overlooked generally, but finding infinite joy within that very simple and mundane object, location, or daily walk.

For instance, I’ve gotten to this point now where I can basically walk the same way every single day, literally repeating the same day on loop infinitely, but still feel this abundance of joy and energy and vitality for life despite that fact.

And so I think that this is the superpower of photography. It’s all about the way that it increases your genuine curiosity. That childlike curiosity is ultimately what puts me there in this state of being, kind of like Nirvana or bliss or paradise or whatever you want to call it, that kind of just effortlessly flows through me when I have my camera and I’m just noticing things.

And so this way of operating on a day-to-day basis, just waking up, grabbing the camera, and walking, is the ultimate way to experience life. I feel like when I’m outside and I’m walking and I’m moving and I’m feeling and I’m looking and I’m photographing, I simply exist outside of the passage of time.

And so despite the fact that life may be short, each day feels like an eternity. And that feeling of eternity in each day derives from play, from not taking things seriously, from not being attached to the outcomes of the things that I’m doing, but just being so radically hyper-present through life-affirming acts of noticing, through photography, that it puts me in this perpetual enthusiastic state of eagerness to wake up each day.

It’s like each night before I go to sleep, I’m yearning for the next day, with this insanely optimistic spirit that’s just ready to wake up again.

And so with this, I find that time and the shortness of life no longer disturb me. Because when you find yourself in the present moment, you discover eternity.