3 Comments

What an essay! Every word is perfectly weighted and calibered and with it you manage to make misery sound incredibly beautiful. These long nights and short days, frigid temperatures and temperamental creek seem to all have contributed to your strength. Feeling humbled

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Lovely essay. When I’m going through a rough mental patch, I often soothe myself with daydreams about escaping to a tiny cabin somewhere north of Fairbanks to live out my solitary life hauling wood, cooking beans, and shoveling snow. The reality, of course, would be far from idyllic … and yet.

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It had its moments. And you more than most, understand what that life entails. If I hadn't had a full time job, maybe it won't have felt so overwhelming? After three years away though, i also understand that the isolation and darkness absolutely fueled my mental struggles. Not to say they are gone (if only), but 20+ years of seasonal swings and vitamin d deficiency definitely didn't help.

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