I wish we could stare at the sun. It is a quite important pillar in our lives. In fact, it’s rather difficult to overstate the significance of the sun. Obviously, it is responsible for maintaining life as we know it, but the few months a year with slightly less of it around are donned their own brand of depression. The sun is a timeless fixture in pop culture, used as a metaphor for all things good and hopeful.
All of this is great, but for how much we associate the sun with positivity, it is sort of a bummer how much damage it can do to one’s vision. Just this summer, I repeatedly interrupted my sleep schedule to go stare at everything but the sun itself right as it was rising. It was indeed a beautiful sight over the mountainous terrain I was calling home, but it feels odd that if I let my gaze rest for too long on the source of the phenomenon, it could have permanently injured me.
Perhaps the most frustrating part of this has to do with my somewhat adolescent disdain for being told what to do. Of course, it is for good reason that we are told not to look at the sun. Of course, that is the case with many of the things we are told to do or not to do from a young age, and, of course, I’m not going to jeopardize my vision by staring at the sun. But that does not mean I am happy about it.