The Weight of Quiet

I was sitting in the park this morning, watching a young boy try to balance a smooth stone on top of another. He wasn’t playing in the way children usually do—with noise or running or sudden bursts of laughter. He was completely still, his brow furrowed in a way that made him look like a little old man contemplating the mysteries of the universe. It struck me then how often we underestimate the inner lives of children. We assume their world is all play and distraction, but sometimes, they carry a gravity that we adults have long since traded away for busyness. There is a profound, heavy beauty in that kind of focus. It is a reminder that even when we are small, we are capable of holding onto deep, unspoken things. We are all just trying to find our balance, aren’t we? What do you think is hiding behind that kind of steady, unblinking stare?

Sandra Frimpong has captured this exact feeling in her beautiful image titled The Gaze. It is a powerful reminder of the depth that exists in a single, quiet moment. Does this look like someone you once knew?