MIEKE DOUGLAS - WHITE HORSES: COVID DREAMS AND THE RHYTHM OF LOCKDOWN

When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused." -Rainer Maria Rilke.

The emotions of lockdown come and go, ebb and flow: disquieting and sometimes extreme, often softly wrapped in a safe quarantine bubble.

I am having unusually vivid dreams. I read in the news that I am not the only one. It can be hard to separate dreams from reality. The world was in lockdown, but Spring and Summer still came as they always have. I have never enjoyed watching the Seasons unfold so much. We are all focussing more on the natural world. The air is cleaner; the streets are quieter, and wildlife and flowers are returning.

I find some comfort in slowing down and surrendering to the unstoppable progression of Nature. There is a stillness to be found in yielding to her rhythms and just accepting their power. I flow with her, and she emboldens me.