What is your sun?

I don’t usually follow the news very closely, especially sports news. In fact, I might not even have noticed that the Winter Olympics were on. But one sentence stopped me in my tracks. When I heard what ski legend Lindsey Vonn, who had that horrible fall while competing in the Olympics, had said about her sport: ‘Skiing was my sun.’

I had to bite back tears when I heard this, probably because I immediately understood what she meant.

Of course, there’s the physical pain of the injury after this awful accident. But I’m afraid that, in the long run, the emotional pain may outweigh everything.

When something is your sun, it’s more than just a hobby. It becomes your identity. It quietly shapes how you move through the world and anchors you. Photography is my sun. It’s the reason I’m writing a blog post late in the evening when I could be reading or going out with friends.

It sometimes scares me: What if one day my hands can’t hold a camera steady anymore? Or, worst-case scenario, what if I went blind one day? Just writing this makes me shudder.

Loving something deeply is beautiful, but it can also be dangerous. The more important something is to you, the more it can break your heart in the most excruciating way. But would we really choose a life without sunshine?

Passion adds colour to our days and makes us feel alive and happy. I am so extremely focused on sight — probably too much  — and I guess I should aim for more balance in my life.

What is your sun in life? Are you ever afraid of losing it?