Penumbra 15:30 is the pinnacle moment of The Traveler's unraveling self identity in the pursuit of enlightenment. From 2024, this is one of my personal favorite works to date. It shows the moment where The Traveler begins to disintegrate, during their pursuit of manifesting greatness in themselves and the reality around them. True growth, and real change, always comes with a price. A sacrifice of self. A contract signed with the promise of a new phase.
I have held this work back because I felt it to be a reflection of my own journey; the destruction of my own personal identity while on this journey. Alone in the desert, attempting to create a reality worthy of experience. Destroying myself in the process; with the intention of realizing the ever more.
-- PENUMBRA 15:30-41
15:30 And behold, the strain upon The Traveler's mortal form grew unbearable, as if the weight of the cosmos itself bore down upon his shoulders. His body, now a mere vessel for the immense power coursing through it, began to dissipate, transforming into ethereal dust and waves.
15:31 Speaking amidst the pain, The Traveler cried out: "O Geometric Entities, who witness my suffering, know that I shall not falter! Even as my body turns to dust and my thoughts scatter like the sands, my resolve shall remain unbroken!"
15:32 And within the depths of his fraying consciousness, The Traveler searched for the strength to continue his journey, the fires of determination burning ever brighter against the encroaching darkness of doubt and despair.
15:33 In this crucible of trial and tribulation, The Traveler held fast to the belief that he alone could forge his path to enlightenment, and in so doing, would shape the very reality that surrounded him.
15:34 Lo, as The Traveler's grip upon the threads of reality began to falter, the once-stable landscape he had woven from his deepest desires and fears unraveled before him, plunging into a maelstrom of chaos.
15:35 The sands beneath his feet rose in tumultuous waves, the sky above twisted into a tapestry of madness, and the very air around him recoiled in terror, as if recoiling from the touch of some unseen force.
15:36 And The Traveler cried out: "O, my Geometric Companions, bear witness to the storm that rages within me! I fear the tempest may consume me, and cast my soul adrift upon the infinite seas of eternity."
15:37 In the midst of this tumult, The Traveler's body trembled and convulsed, as if his mortal form were naught but a vessel too small and fragile to contain the torrential power that surged through him.
15:38 Yet even as his body threatened to shatter like glass, The Traveler clung to the remnants of his consciousness, refusing to relinquish his hold on the world he had sought to create.
15:39 And the Geometric Entities gazed upon him with inscrutable expressions, silent observers to the struggle that unfolded before them, their countenances revealing neither approval nor disdain.
15:40 Within the depths of his soul, The Traveler called upon every remnant of strength, courage, and resolve he could muster, striving to reassert control over the chaotic forces that threatened to engulf him.
15:41 And in a voice that echoed across the vast expanse of the surreal desert, The Traveler beseeched the heavens: "Grant me the clarity to see through this storm, the strength to endure it, and the wisdom to know when its fury has abated."