2023 The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come in to the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~  Wendell Berry

I don't recall when I first came across The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry, but I do know it resonated with me long after I read it. His words reflected my own exploration of the complex relationship between humanity and the natural world through my drawings. For the past few years I have focused on the widely-felt experience of grief and anxiety associated with climate change and the loss of fragile ecosystems, but this grief has threatened to overwhelm me. It was too much, too heavy. Berry's poem lifted me out of that downward spiral, it offered me a sense of hope.

The natural world has always been a source of comfort and solace, but also a place where I am reminded of my vulnerability. When I go out into the landscape to photography myself - photographs I use as the basis for my drawings - I am very aware of my body in direct contact with the tactile reality of nature. The crunch of dirt and leaves under my bare feet, the intricate-yet-rigid whorls and crevices of ancient bark under my hands, the roots and branches like the weathered hide of some elephantine creature far older and wiser than any human. What does it know or care of my fleeting imposition, or my fears for the future?

That anxiety is still with me, but it hasn't yet turned to complete despair. Nature's enduring resilience relies, paradoxically, upon a delicate balance, and we must consider the impact of our human activities upon that balance. It's a dance of reciprocity, rather than domination. If our environment is not thriving, then we also suffer. These difficult times we find ourselves in are an opportunity for personal reflection and growth, even a kind of healing - despite feeling like the world is burning around us. If we can show up for ourselves and our planet with empathy and humility, we have a better chance at survival.