5.17.2011

the land to the north

Every now and then I get inspired to write a post from a comment I've left on someone else's blog. Case in point:

On Hila's blog, le projet d'amour & other tales, she wrote about Glenn Gould and her "fascination with the landscape of the icy north" and that this "interest in the cold, bleak landscape of the north was based on a love of solitude. Ultimately, Gould linked this landscape with the northern part of our being; with a process of getting along with yourself when there's nothing and no-one else to get along with. I love this. For me, writing is precisely about learning to get along with myself: that is, learning to feel comfortable and secure in who I am and what I do. This may explain why my interest in the northern landscape is not simply based on its aesthetic beauty, but also on its philosophical implications."

Her post completely resonated with me as I find that I'm starting to fall for the land of the icy north as well. Which is odd and surprising because I tend to dream of either green, lush, wet places such as Scotland or Ireland, or warm, textured places such as Tuscany or Kenya.

But then I see pictures like the ones above and I can't help but feel that Iceland is pulling me in. And what Hila said about the philosophical implications makes sense: it's the same reason I dream of rainy, green Ireland or the vast landscapes of Africa: my desire to be alone with nature, to walk those green places, to wander those fields, to read, to write, to think.

Source: lynann

5 comments:

samantha ramage said...

gosh, i feel so limited in the landscapes that i see day in and day out. i can't even imagine looking at anything this solitary and beautiful in its own right.

xo
sami

Ellinor Forje said...

Nice write up, love the paired photos. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and feel free to drop by me too, soon.

Cheers.

Charlotte said...

Ireland, Scotland and Iceland are three of my top places I want to see. Sweden too. Even though I hate winter, , I love these chilly, green, rainy climates!

k said...

iceland would be beautiful to go too. i'm going to scotland and ireland this summer which is exciting to me!

Monica @ bohemian twilight said...

hmmm... thought i commented here....

anyways... i live up a mountain, in a tiny village. not as secluded as where you're talking about though, because in 2mins i'm at the beach, in 3 i'm in the centre of town (albeit a very small town).

but the sense of isolation, solitude, peace, tranquility.... sigh, nothing can compete with that.

i can't do icy though, brrr... but that's what my wood stove is for. :)