El Capitan, Yosemite National Park
“You live like this, sheltered, in a delicate world, and you believe you are living. Then you read a book… or you take a trip… and you discover that you are not living, that you are hibernating. The symptoms of hibernating are easily detectable: first, restlessness. The second symptom (when hibernating becomes dangerous and might degenerate into death): absence of pleasure. That is all. It appears like an innocuous illness. Monotony, boredom, death. Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.”
I equate the past month to the feeling of when NyQuil finally wears off. The grogginess fades. The mental clarity returns. I've loved Neil Gaiman's work for the past year. I've listened to this so many times and it never, ever gets old. But now, more than ever, I feel it in my bones. In my heart. I know it's still winter, but I'm done hibernating. I'm ready to start living. I'm ready to make good art.
What are some people or books or songs that have helped you wake up and show up more fully in your own life?