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A Picture & 100 Words

A Picture & 100 Words: We Fear the One Thing That Makes Us Feel the Most Alive

Published 8 days ago • 1 min read

We Fear the One Thing That Makes Us Feel the Most Alive

Jack and I filed through the woods in our bathing suits, barefooted and wide-eyed. The banks of the Ohio vanished from sight as we moved up the hill and deeper into the shadows of the forest. We were 8-year-old summer fish out of water. There was no path. But there was something back here; he knew it, and I knew it. We came to a clearing, and we saw the first car. Then another, and another. Then, beyond the first cluster of mangled metal, we came to a full auto graveyard — tucked away and rotting there on the forest floor. There must have been 30 cars, rusted out and waiting to be explored.

The unknown is the source of our greatest fears. And funny enough, what we desire most is to feel the most alive — really and truly alive. We feel the most alive dancing in the forests of limitless possibility — deep in the valley of the shadow of the unknown.

We couldn’t contain ourselves. We crawled in and out of every window, door, and trunk. I remember leaping into the hood of a hollowed-out car, making engine noises and giggling.

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A Picture & 100 Words

Joseph Dalton

Through words and images, my newsletter captures my dance with the universe as a creative professional. The goal is to enrich your life in some small way, whether by transporting you to a faraway place or embedding you in this moment. Sign up to gain early or exclusive access to photos, ebooks, prints, articles, and other creative leaps into the dark.

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