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Contributing Writer Long-form Essays & Philosophical Reflection

Margaret Holt

Margaret Holt has been writing for Light & Composition since 2009 — she was among the earliest contributors to the platform. Her Reflections take the long way round: she circles an idea from a distance, picking up references from history, science, and everyday observation before arriving, unhurried, at the centre. Readers who come expecting a quick take learn to slow down. Those who slow down tend not to stop.

1,251 Published Reflections

Reflections by Margaret Holt

Showing 12 of 1,251 essays
The Architecture of Waiting Photo of the Day
April 25, 2017

The Architecture of Waiting

There is a peculiar geometry to the way we occupy space. We build towers of glass and steel, reaching for the clouds, yet we often find our own sense of belonging in the most precarious of perches. Consider the wire—a thin, humming line of connection that spans the distance between two points. It was never […]
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The Weight of the Watcher Photo of the Day
April 25, 2017

The Weight of the Watcher

In the quiet corners of history, we often find that the creatures we once deemed common are the very ones whose absence leaves the deepest silence. There is a strange, heavy dignity in being a scavenger—a role that demands patience, an ability to wait for the world to turn, and a willingness to accept what […]
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The Persistence of Color Photo of the Day
April 23, 2017

The Persistence of Color

In the deep midwinter, the world often retreats into a study of charcoal and bone. We are told that nature sleeps, that the sap slows, and that the vibrant spectrum of the warmer months is merely a memory we must hold onto until the thaw. There is a quiet, heavy patience in this grayness; it […]
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The Weight of a Silhouette Photo of the Day
April 22, 2017

The Weight of a Silhouette

In the early hours, before the world has fully committed to its noise, our shadows are at their most ambitious. They stretch across the ground, thin and impossibly tall, reaching toward horizons we have not yet touched. There is a strange vanity in this, I think—the way our dark doubles mimic our movements, yet possess […]
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The Weight of a Handshake Photo of the Day
April 4, 2017

The Weight of a Handshake

There is a quiet, ancient physics to the way we greet one another. We extend a hand or offer a nod, and in that brief, suspended moment, we are essentially testing the atmosphere for signs of peace. It is a ritual as old as the first time two strangers crossed paths in a clearing, wary […]
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The Weight of a Wingbeat Photo of the Day
April 4, 2017

The Weight of a Wingbeat

In the nineteenth century, naturalists often spoke of the ‘economy of nature,’ a tidy idea that every creature held a specific, ledgered place in the grand design. They imagined the world as a clockwork mechanism, where each gear turned in silent, predictable service to the whole. But if you have ever sat perfectly still in […]
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The Weight of a Name Photo of the Day
March 28, 2017

The Weight of a Name

In the nineteenth century, the practice of physiognomy suggested that the face was a map of the soul, a ledger where every sorrow and triumph was etched into the skin. We have largely discarded such rigid science, yet we still find ourselves searching for stories in the lines around a stranger’s eyes. We look at […]
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The Weight of Light Photo of the Day
March 24, 2017

The Weight of Light

In the physics of our childhood, time did not move in straight lines. It moved in circles, tethered to the tide and the cooling sand. We spent our afternoons testing the limits of the horizon, convinced that if we ran fast enough, we might catch the sun before it slipped beneath the hem of the […]
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The Architecture of Sweetness Photo of the Day
March 20, 2017

The Architecture of Sweetness

We often speak of time as a river, a relentless forward motion that carries us toward some inevitable sea. Yet, there are moments when time seems to pool, gathering in the quiet corners of an afternoon like water in a hollow stone. It is in these stagnant, golden intervals that we find the true weight […]
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The Weight of the Bowl Photo of the Day
March 16, 2017

The Weight of the Bowl

In the ancient traditions of the East, there is a practice of walking that is not meant to get one from here to there, but rather to be a physical manifestation of presence. To walk with a bowl in one’s hands is to acknowledge that we are all, in some fundamental way, dependent on the […]
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The Weight of Small Hands Photo of the Day
February 28, 2017

The Weight of Small Hands

In the study of biology, we learn that the human infant is born uniquely unfinished. Unlike the foal that stands within minutes or the hatchling that finds its way to the sea, the human child arrives into the world as a question mark, requiring years of proximity to survive. We are a species defined by […]
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The Weight of Gravity Photo of the Day
February 23, 2017

The Weight of Gravity

In the physics of childhood, gravity is not a law to be obeyed, but a suggestion to be ignored. We spend our early years testing the limits of our own buoyancy, convinced that if we run fast enough or jump high enough, we might just leave the earth behind. There is a profound, unstudied trust […]
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