I woke to an unusually sunny day, and the warmth of the sunlight stealing in through the crack in the curtains filled me with life. I got up, and went to the bathroom to start the morning routine, where I caught sight of myself in the mirror with a new, unforgiving—but unbiased—clarity as the natural light filled the room.

Jesus, I thought. I look like shit.

Big, dark circles under my eyes, overgrown stubble and pale skin. Months overdue for a haircut, stray grey hairs lining the curls. My shut-in lifestyle was showing. I hadn’t noticed until the sun came.

I cleaned up, shaved and ate until I was full, realising that I’d only had a late lunch the day before and forgotten about the other meals. After getting dressed, I paced around the flat impatiently, torn between my powerful urge to go out into the sun, and my natural indolence. It wasn’t long before I put on my coat (which I didn’t need) and boots (which I wear year-round).

The clarity of my surroundings granted by the sunlight put me in mind of photography, so I decided to go to Hollow Ponds to take some photos. I didn’t really have anything in mind; I just felt like I should go there. The picture above is my favourite of the set, although there’s a runner-up:

Both are in black and white because I’d made what I somehow thought was a kind of moral decision that colour was too much of a distraction. My line of reasoning ends there—I just prefer photographs in black and white, I suppose.

I dropped by a nearby pub afterwards to see a couple of friends. When I got home, I noticed that there was a bit more life in my face, and that night, I dreamt of travel.