The Weight of Gravity

Gravity is a constant, yet we spend our lives trying to outrun it. We walk with our heads down, measuring the distance between our feet and the pavement, forgetting that we were once capable of leaving the ground entirely. There is a brief, suspended moment before the return to earth where the body forgets its own heaviness. It is a state of grace that belongs only to the young, who have not yet learned that everything which rises must eventually settle. We watch them and feel a strange, sharp ache—not for the loss of flight, but for the loss of the impulse to jump without checking the landing. The air holds us for a heartbeat, then lets us go. We are always falling, even when we think we are standing still. What remains in the air after the body has already touched the ground?

Siew Bee Lim has taken this beautiful image titled Playful. It captures that singular, fleeting second where the earth loses its hold. Do you remember the last time you felt that light?