Essay: emma friary
Solitude
When I picture my life in all its seasons, I picture the solitude of the forest. There is something about seeing trees older than you stretching to the sky with grawled roots and new buds in the spring that makes it feel like rebirth. Spring showers when you are somewhere cozy in the forest makes for the greatest sleep, the soft pattering of rain on a rooftop and the steady current off of leaves is what has soothed people to sleep for thousands of years. A cottage in the woods filled with books, records, and tea is the place I feel at home. I cannot imagine not being able to look out my windows and not be able to see the solitude of the trees with their canopies allowing in flickering day light.
Trees inhibit a kind of solitude that an introvert feels at most moments. A tree stands tall, alone to the eye, but then beneath the surface is intertwined with many others, feeding and taking nutrients from others and communicating when there is trouble. The smaller plants grow upwards and tangle the forest floor, creating interest to look at and a natural fence to keep things that do not belong out. A forest, in other words, is a heart.
I have never been someone who feels at home by the sea, where waves can drag you under in an instant and tempests rage. In the forest, the storms create a peculiar kind of excitement, where electricity flashes through the air and momentarily turns the world bright before throwing it back to its dark belief. Where the ocean drowns out everything in a storm, the forest allows for noises to be heard, for the unseen things of the forest to move about, and for uncertainty and fear to creep in until waking the next day to find everything glistening and clean.
In these times when we are forced into isolation, it is all too easy to remember how it felt to be around people. There is a big difference between being forced into isolation and choosing to have solitude. In these times when we are alone, retreat to a place within yourself where you can feel the same quiet of the woods or physically retreat into nature. When all is said and done, I hope you feel at home.
about the writer: emma friary
Emma Friary is an undergraduate at FSU planning on pursuing her Masters through the school. She draws inspiration from her travels and experiences as well as her favorite novels. Emma’s goal is to publish a book and travel back to Europe in the next year.
