One Hundred Thousand Years of Solitude

Light is made up of photons, particles created at the heart of stars. The photons that illuminate our world begin their journey at the surface of the Sun and take eight minutes to reach the apples ripening in Norwegian gardens.

But their journey isn’t as pleasant as it might seem. The Sun’s gravity is so powerful that it can trap a photon for up to 100,000 years before letting it begin its journey.

The 100,000-year struggle of photons serves as inspiration for our own battles against the gravity of circumstances that likewise hold us back.

But 100,000 years is a long time. No human story could truly grasp such a monumental struggle. The photons that began their fight for freedom at the start of the Ice Age didn’t reach our planet until just an hour ago.

After 90,000 years of struggle, no one could blame a photon for giving up too soon—especially when there are stories of some fighting so hard only to end up illuminating a pile of dog crap.

The 100,000-year struggle of photons serves as inspiration for our own battles against the gravity of circumstances that likewise hold us back.

 

Could one say that their journey was in vain? Of course not. Let’s not forget that, for someone to avoid stepping in dog crap, millions of photons have to fight for their freedom and sacrifice it to light up that pile. Look at the soles of your shoes. If they’re clean, you might owe it to the photons that did their job.

But life isn’t all crap for photons. And that’s why, in our purest and most symbolic form, we are like those photons, eager to illuminate the wild horses that will run free this afternoon through Arizona.

What matters is to free yourself first and illuminate the world afterward. Even if only for an instant.