The Weight of Gravity

I was walking past the local park this morning when I saw a young boy jump off a swing at the very peak of its arc. For a split second, he was just suspended there, completely untethered from the earth. He didn’t look worried about the landing or the dirt he was about to hit. He just looked like he belonged to the air. It made me realize how much of our adult lives are spent keeping our feet firmly planted, measuring risks, and bracing for impact. We spend so much energy trying to stay grounded that we forget the thrill of the fall. There is a specific kind of bravery in letting go of the ledge, in trusting that the space between where you are and where you land is worth the leap. We are so afraid of gravity, but maybe it is the only thing that lets us know we are truly moving. When was the last time you jumped without checking where you would land?

Tamal Debnath has captured this exact feeling of weightlessness in his beautiful image titled Vivacity. It reminds me that sometimes the best way to move forward is to simply let go. Does this image make you want to jump, too?