A Year in Slovakia: Umenie
What is one artistic or creative work that you encountered during your gap year that particularly resonated with you? How does this creative work help you make sense of your gap year experience? It could be literature, poem, dance, artisan craft, architecture etc. If available, please include a photo or video.
Art exists within everything. Leaves falling from the sky, clouds drifting overhead, sunlight reflecting off the snow, flowers sprouting from barren ground, a song drifting through the air — these are all forms of art which exists in our day to day lives. While I adore art, going to museums, and the artistic community, it wasn’t a piece of art that has resonated with me but rather a moment in time that was art itself.
Winter had felt like it would never end. The days were short, sleep was excessive, and sunlight rare. By the end of November, snow had begun to fall nearly everyday and didn’t stop for weeks. How the snow covered everything was stunning but it was an intimating beauty. Being out too long would mean frozen fingers and toes, taking layers and layers of clothes and an abundance of heat to warm back up. Still, even with the dreaded cold, my happiness and adoration for my exchange persevered. I would leave for school each day before the sun would rise and come home after dark, filling my schedule to the max, in effort to distract myself from the extreme darkness and cold; and it worked until I got sick. For nearly three weeks, I was battling this sickness that tried it’s best to keep me bedridden. I was forced to give up my volunteering activities during this time to avoid risking the children’s health, and when I would try to go to school, my teachers would send me home telling me to rest. Being someone who dreads the thought of doing nothing, this all was my worst nightmare. I was bored, isolated, and could no longer outrun the dreaded darkness. It all began to hit me and I went into a rough patch of trying to stay positive when life kept throwing me these negatives … until I woke up one morning and finally felt well enough to go back to school. It was that morning when the universe began to construct it’s masterpiece before my very eyes. I was walking along the river on my way to school, listening to the sounds of the water rushing beneath the surface of the ice and admiring the glistening snow, when suddenly the clouds began to break apart, the wind came to a halt, and then there I was, bathing in sunlight. I remember completely stopping in the middle of the sidewalk at the feel of it all. I could feel my entire body filling with this type of joy and that I just knew it would all be okay. While it sounds small, and really it did only lasted about five seconds, I still am filled with that joy and peace when I think of it. It is this reminder that no matter what I am going through, there will always been another burst of sunlight laying ahead — to have hope and push through.
