The Camera of Life: Expanding Our Capacity to Hold the Light
This morning, while checking photographs from an event last weekend, I had an unexpected thought. In photography, the more light the camera captures, the more detail you see. The colours become vivid, the edges sharper. But if too much light floods the lens, the image becomes overexposed, washed out until there is nothing left to see.
And it struck me: life is very much the same.
We live in an age overflowing with light, opportunities, freedom, access to knowledge, technology, and connection. On the surface, it seems the more we absorb, the better we should become. Yet many of us don’t feel sharper or clearer. We feel distracted, burnt out, and even blurred.
The light itself isn’t the problem. The question is: how much can we hold?
Throughout history, thinkers have wrestled with this paradox. Philosophers used the imagery of shadows and sunlight to explain how truth can both illuminate and overwhelm. Jewish mystics described humanity as vessels designed to hold divine light, but warned that if too much enters a vessel too quickly, it shatters. Even modern science tells us our brains filter reality; if we absorbed every signal around us, it would be unbearable.
The common thread is this: it’s not the light that breaks us. It’s our capacity.
Expanding the Vessel
This thought often returns to me when I lead training events. The rooms are filled with good, capable people who are genuinely eager to learn. Their enthusiasm inspires me. But I always remind them: apart from learning more, it’s also about expanding your capacity to hold what you’ve learned.
Otherwise, what should empower us risks overwhelming us.
Expanding capacity doesn’t require us to chase more information endlessly. It means strengthening the vessel, our mind, body, and character, so we can hold the light of opportunity, wisdom, and growth without becoming overexposed.
The Lens Exercise
Here’s a simple tool to practise:
Check your exposure. Are you underexposed (holding back, playing small) or overexposed (burning out, overstimulated)?
Adjust your light. If you’re dim, invite more curiosity, connection, or courage. If you’re flooded, create space for stillness.
Frame your day. Decide what story you want your “photograph” to capture.
Expand your vessel. Build strength through reflection, balance, and deep integration—so your lens can hold more brilliance without distortion.
Final Thought
Like a skilled photographer, each of us is both the lens and the artist of our lives. The light—truth, opportunity, clarity—is infinite. The growth lies in how much we can hold.
And remember: in photography, a picture is not made by light alone. It is the shadows that give depth, contrast, and beauty. The same is true of us. Our challenges and triumphs, our still moments and radiant ones, together create the masterpiece of our lives.