While watching a vampire movie, the answer dawned on me (oops… puns!):
The real nature of flashaholism is not just about seeing in dark corners, at night in the woods or during power outages. It really is about "living on" normally despite the natural cycle of day and night or light and shadow. Somewhat like vampires, who can't come out during the day without some magic, a good flashlight can now let us live peacefully at night and face the otherwise hidden dangers of darkness as if daylight had extended its hours. The real quest of the flashaholic is the same one that once drove cavemen to master fire: being able to keep doing what we normally do and watch out for danger despite the arrival of night and despite the darkness of closed quarters by finding a portable source of light to follow us anywhere anytime. It is a primordial quest for survival, imprinted in our genes, to live on unimpeded and to see predators from far away in any situation beyond the limiting time of the sun-provided light. Sight being our most important sense, light is therefore our most important asset to "live on" as usual without risk from unseen dangers in any given situation while not being limited by time or shadow. Modern flashlights can finally fill that need, but nothing yet beats Mr. Sun and I suspect the quest will go on until we find a portable source of light that makes all shadows disappear on 360 X360 degrees as far as we can see at the flick of a switch.
My flashaholic prayer:
I am grateful that I can live inside and outside day or night. Thanks to my source of light, I know I can go anywhere anytime, no matter how far and for how long. I am now free from the covered light refuge I once needed so badly. I am grateful that I can live on normally anywhere and anytime thanks to my preciouses. Oh! source of light, chase away the shadows that darken my way, and may your batteries last longer than night or a trek in a darkened venue on a single charge!
Amen