Standing Before Giants

I spent this morning trying to organize my bookshelf, pulling down volumes I haven’t touched in years. I found a notebook from a decade ago, filled with worries about things that feel so small now. It is strange how we spend so much of our lives feeling like the weight of the world is resting entirely on our shoulders. We fret over deadlines, social obligations, and the minor inconveniences of the day, convinced that these things define our existence. But then, you find yourself standing in a place that has been here long before you arrived and will remain long after you are gone. In those moments, the noise in your head finally goes quiet. You realize that you are just a very small part of a much larger, older story. It isn’t a lonely feeling, though. It is a relief. To be small is to be free from the burden of having to hold everything together. What would happen if we let ourselves be small more often?

Sergiy Kadulin has captured this exact feeling of scale in his image titled Court of Patriarchs. It reminds me that there is a profound peace in acknowledging the giants that surround us. Does this view make you feel small, or does it make you feel like you are part of something greater?