Honestly, I’ve probably spent as much time in the last month feeling cozy as I have depressed, afraid, or angry. You see, I’m a hermit. This shelter in place thing many of us are enduring by order of our governors? I was already doing it most hours of the day and most days of the week. Doing it alone. I don’t think this makes me a better person. It’s just how I cope with being a member of a species I have a hard time trusting.

We all need something that helps us to forget ourselves for awhile, to momentarily forget our age, our gender, our socio-economic background, our duties, our failures, and all that we have lost and screwed up.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

I get lonely on a regular basis. Depression is a familiar spirit. Often, I worry I have missed out on the best stuff and my life is slipping away. The thing that has helped me for several years now is my effort to live a creative life. Most days of the week, I make sure to spend at least an hour or two behaving like a grad student or full-time writer, devouring other people’s creative work and also creating some of my own. Any given day, it is all I feel good about.

Spoiler alert: I’m not building up to a purely feel-good conclusion. I’m talking about survival.

I’m a happy subscriber to Live from Here‘s YouTube channel. Hosted by songwriter Chris Thile, it showcases a wonderful mix of music and spoken word. Hmm, who else do I know who does that? In the below video clip, writer and filmmaker Bodine Boling reads a short excerpt from one of her favorite books: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. You don’t have to be a poet, or a professional artist of any kind, to be nourished by the wisdom of this piece. Hopefully it leaves you feeling validated and sufficient. I think this video is worth the five minutes it will take from you.

I wish the above piece were my words. I wish I was the type of artist and human who could lead with sincere, practical optimism. Maybe someday or maybe never. For now, I am just grateful Bodine shared these words, so I could find them and be nourished one lonely evening. I hope they are helpful for you too.

This post’s featured image is by noeliebodin on Pixabay.