Welcome the Night

I watched the sunset this evening. The colours were magnificent: oranges, pinks, greys. Like fiery embers in parts, like a charcoal drawing in others. I quickly thought:

I must get my camera!

but something stopped me.

Nature is not nearly so beautiful through the eye of a lens…

I thought. And instead I just watched. And the more I watched, the more I felt a profound stirring inside. I experienced beauty directly and I treasured it. I considered that a photograph is, in part, an attempt to make something more permanent; but permanency is just a lie we tell ourselves, no more than a concept. Beauty is now.

As the sun went down, I let go of all my thoughts and worries from the day. I imagined Khepri, the ancient Egyptian scarab, pushing the sun below the horizon. I imagined Ra, the sun god, and remembered his missing eye. I saw dragons in the clouds, breathing fire and writing their names in smoke. Long, elaborate names. I thought about the concept of the Earth’s Boost and the heightening of perception from the book I just finished reading: The Fire from Within.

I was there to welcome the night. And I felt calm, peaceful and utterly content.