The Solace of Snowy Spaces

disrupting melancholy

The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn. TH WHITE

Rose in her element

Last week’s election results reminded me that when fear and anxiety seize all of you—body and soul, heart and mind—your previous losses come out to play and join in the fun. I found myself thinking of family and friends I have lost and dearly miss, of what they would say or think, of mistakes I’ve made, regrets I have, as well as brooding over the loss of my health. I sank into a trough — listless and thoroughly unproductive. I will leave others to analyze the who, why, what, and how on an endless feedback loop surrounding our national schism. I’m taking a break from the news.

Meanwhile, just in the nick of time, snow arrived in soft feathery layers like in days of yore, and my husband and made-for-winter pup Rose and I went for our first backcountry ski. The powder and quiet woods restored my sense of agency and equilibrium. I may never understand the majority embrace of our president-elect, but I do understand the power of art, the imperative of connecting to the natural world, and the boundless gift of love. And then there is the power of community. After all, people who don’t share my politics showed up when I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and then again in force when our daughter Bailey died. The love came from every corner, and I can only hope to pay forward to the end of my days the exceptional kindness that dropped on our family.

So the road ahead? Many creatives have resolved to seek more beauty, dedicate themselves to the vulnerable, give more, volunteer more, show up more for their local communities, and keep writing and making. Count me among them. I’m back to work.

snow puppies