The Weight of Yesterday

We carry our childhood like a stone in the pocket. At first, it is heavy, then it becomes smooth, worn down by the friction of years. We think we have left it behind in the tall grass or by the water’s edge, but it is always there, waiting for the light to hit it at a certain angle. There is a specific ache in watching someone else inhabit the space we once occupied. It is not envy. It is the recognition of a ghost. The world moves forward, the seasons turn, and the things we held with such certainty become stories we tell to strangers. We reach out, but the air is thin. The distance is not measured in miles, but in the hardening of the heart. If we could go back, would we recognize the boy standing in the dust, or would he look at us with the same confusion we feel when we look into a mirror?

Sarin Soman has captured this distance in the image titled Please Give Me Back My Childhood. It is a quiet reminder of what we have traded for time. Does the weight in your pocket feel any lighter today?