Severance, Winter, and the Reminder That You Are Not Alone
On emotions
“But how can I hold them both,” asked bird. “Especially when they’re so different?”
“With care,” replied bear. “With so much care.”
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Mobile: Ovalteenie (as seen in Season 1: Episode 1 of Severance on Apple TV with the incomparable cast, including Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Jennifer Tullock, Michael Chernus , John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, Zach Cherry, and Tramell Tillman).
…
It’s the heart of winter, and yet as I walk to my workshop in the backyard this morning, I see the grass is alive: a million ice crystals lining every green blade, reflecting the bright sun – a revelation after a dark, clear night.
There’s paradox here, the ground underfoot is hard-packed + frozen, yet dandelions and daffodils are already reaching up from below, each filled with audacious thoughts of blooming someday soon; a living reminder that multiple things can be true simultaneously.
Later this a.m., I pass Meow Haus PDX on my way to drop off orders at the post office. And that’s when I see her. A little girl, perhaps three years old, peering through the windows, dressed in a cat costume. As I drive by, she paws her nose and hops up and down, a smile painting her tiny face.
Returning home, I see the all-too-familiar shopping cart on the corner, one’s life possessions bundled up under a tarp on a cart with a creaky wheel.
I sit on the couch, heart hurting from all the pain and suffering and confusion of our country. And that’s when my pup Stevie scoots up next to me, hip to haunch, a paw on my lap as she licks my cheek; a family of robins flit down to the grass outside, their little beaks breaking through frozen ground in a search for food.
When it is dark, we have to work for hope and lean into our courage. Sometimes, we can do this; other times, we can’t. And that's okay.
And so we try again and again, reminding ourselves that we are not alone. You are not alone.
When you can't, I will. And when I can't, you will; each of us together breaking through frozen ground in search of food, of hope.
Where will you find (your) light today?