The Weight of Enough
Why do we measure the value of a life by the abundance of what surrounds it, rather than the depth of what is felt within? We are conditioned to believe that contentment is a destination reached only after the accumulation of many things, yet…
The Weight of a Smile
I am wary of the smile in a photograph. It is too often a shortcut, a way to bypass the difficult work of looking at a life and demand an immediate, unearned warmth from the viewer. We are conditioned to find such things charming, to let the…
The Grain of Sustenance
The smell of steam rising from a bowl of rice is the smell of safety. It is a damp, earthy scent that clings to the back of the throat, grounding the spirit when the world feels too wide and too thin. I remember the rough texture of a wooden…