Benched in the shadows

Have a seat, please
London, ON
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

With apologies to Forrest Gump, life isn't so much like a box of chocolates as it is a giant virtual kitchen within which we get to experiment with a near-limitless number of recipes.

Like this one: Take one bench beside a big box store, one security light, some brick and cracked concrete, and mix in with a few spare minutes on a cold, wet night in between appointments. This is what you get.

It isn’t much, just some shadows in a forgotten corner of an already-forgettable retail cluster. No one ever takes the time to take this scene in, which strikes me as somewhat sad, but hardly surprising given the way the planet runs today. We’re so focused on getting stuff done, and squeezing the most utility out of ever decreasing amounts of open time, that we just don’t seem to have it in us anymore to stop and absorb.

So I've decided to make the time. It doesn't get me any closer to that mythical box of chocolates, and it doesn’t guarantee I’ll know which one I’m gonna get. But it sure does help me find joy in places, and at times, that would otherwise be dark and featureless.

The light is out there. We just have to look for it.

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