The Inability To Capture Light

We can’t hold on to the things we love. Difficult Goodbyes and Beautiful Beginnings PT 3.

Vincent Van Patten
2 min readAug 25

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Photo by the author. Shot in my pocket, yet it spoke to me.

Let the dust settle. Be easy. Watch. Think. Wonder. Be. Life doesn’t need to fall back in place; an illusory grip of control. Everything’s where it’s meant to be.

Notice the way things are and how you feel. Honor the emotion.

We can’t capture the things we love — moments, people, experiences, the past; we fear losing, or holding, a semblance of light; if we hold we eventually must release; if we hold, we lose.

I often wish I could bottle up light, the beauty or energy of this person, a life-changing experience, even part of myself.

But we can’t. We can’t hold on or try to obtain because there’s nothing to obtain, no light to bottle up like a firefly.

There’s nothing to do but feel the light’s radiant warmth. Let it pass through and into your soul, so we too may shine when we think of them, or then, or that — that time not meant to be obtained, but honored.

When we reflect and we smile and we laugh, we illuminate from the inside out, incandescent like our memories.

It feels hard to move on.

Breathe. You have so much love in you. Light which shines and can’t be contained; so let it radiate.

Difficult Goodbyes and Beautiful Beginnings PT 1.

Home Is Where There Are Friends, or, Difficult Goodbyes and Beautiful Beginnings PT 2.

For inspiration from my travels in Japan and much more, join me HERE.

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Vincent Van Patten

Exploring what lights my soul on fire ❤️‍🔥 Living in Japan. For my writing, podcast, photography and much more, check out vincentvanpatten.com