Varanasi | Winter Solstice Reflection

The Ganges, Varanasi, India; Leica MP 0.72, 35mm Summilux, Kodak Tri-X © Doug Kim

 

Today is the first day of winter. I have waited for this moment all my life.

The Buddhists tell us that there is no past, there is no future, there is only now. Everything else is illusion. You cannot live in the past and you cannot wait for the arrival of some theoretical future. You can only live in the present.

There is only this moment then, this actual moment, right here, right now. This now is your life. This now is my life.

On the other side of fear is everything that I desire.

The Winter Solstice haw passed. This long night has ended.

I went and bought a watch, the first one I have owned in maybe twenty years. It is to remind me that the greatest currency in this life is time.

The watch is always on my wrist. Every time I glance down, I see that it is now, that it is time to live.

doug