Chasing the Sunset

I was driving home tonight and I saw the most magnificent sunset. The sun was a ball of fire in the sky and I needed to get the perfect picture of it to share with all of you. The trick was that the sun was setting fast and I found that I couldn’t quite capture what I thought was the best angle. I thought, I will chase it and I will get to the highest hill I can find. Once I am there, I will snap the most perfect image possible.

I sped through the neighborhood at speeds I probably shouldn’t have touched. I honked the horn at the deer that tried to get in my path so that I did not hurt them. But I could feel the brilliant orange sinking down in the sky and fading into a distant memory in my mind. It reminded me of my age-old struggle. I was trying to capture perfection; I was chasing it down because I thought if I tried hard enough, I’d of course get it. I would set my mind to it and that would be that.

My heart began to plummet as I realized that the blaze in the sky had already disappeared. I chased the highest points I could find; ascended the steepest hills. But sadly, I could never reclaim my original view of only a mere five minutes earlier. My opportunity was gone and I would never be able to show the audience the molten apricot fire I had witnessed; it would only be my word against the sky’s.

But that’s the thing about perfection; it is elusive and it is fleeting. You seize it in due time but it’s never quite as succulent as you had imagined. The reality of the moment is never quite how you fancied it might be. You are chasing a dragon whose magic you will never truly know.  Your expectations are far grander than reality can ever deliver.

But what if…?