24/300: What do you need right now?

the North.

well, i need clarity and inspiration and motivation and time to think, but the best place to get those things, for me, is the North.

my home.

clarity will come from the Yukon air that’s so clean that it cuts through your lungs. the first few breaths are a shock — it’s purity takes getting used to.

inspiration will come from scraggly pines and gnarled spruce that fight for space on the forest floor. brilliant pink fireweed, products of the midnight sun, fill in the gaps between the trees. the specks of orange and deep, oxidized-blood red are the soapberries and cranberries, respectively. the menagerie of colours radiates peace — untouched, unchanged, a true final frontier, one i hope never to disturb.

motivation lies in the river. its emerald green waters have been hard at work for millennia, carving basalt columns that stand as the guardians of the little city that sits gently at the bottom of the valley.

time to think does not come from a place, of course. rather, being home will give me the time i need to think. to find a way to escape from the liminal space that has help me so tightly for the last year, its grip getting strangely familiar. but it is time to move on.

i need the North.