The Weight of a Winter Coat

I spent twenty minutes this morning just staring at my radiator, waiting for the metal to finally tick and hum with heat. It was freezing outside, and I kept thinking about how lucky I was to have a heavy wool sweater and a door that locks against the wind. It is so easy to take for granted the simple, invisible barriers we put between ourselves and the elements. We walk through the world assuming that warmth is a given, a basic right that follows us wherever we go. But then I saw a stray dog huddled under a parked car, and the comfort of my own home suddenly felt fragile. It made me realize how thin the line is between being protected and being exposed. We are all just one season, one shift in the weather, away from needing someone else to notice us. When was the last time you truly felt the cold, and who was there to help you find your way back to the warmth?

Bawar Mohammad has captured this exact feeling of vulnerability in the image titled Shivering Child. It is a quiet, heavy reminder of the things we often choose to look away from. Does this image stir something in you, too?