I’ve never been more grateful for central heating as I have in the last week. At times it’s really felt like a full time job trying to keep warm whilst continuing with everyday life albeit at a much much lower temperature. While the entire country undergoes the big freeze and everywhere you look there’s snow or talk of it I can’t help but notice a few things around this time as we all try desperately to keep the cold out.
Amidst the travel chaos, road dangers and school closures it’s hard to deny how utterly beautiful the landscape becomes under a thick blanket of snow. It transforms ordinary neglected objects into striking shapes simply by hiding them beneath inches of itself and in doing so making them appear more attractive. Looking at my garden earlier in the week I saw that the watering can, the railings of a gate, parked cars, and even wheelie bins all became worthy of a second glance when they were covered in snow. It just makes everything look prettier by covering it up allowing only the outline to make it distinguishable. And it leaves nothing out, it's so inclusive like that.
We, on the other hand, seem to become indistinguishable in the snow, covered up in so many clothes it’s hard to tell sometimes who’s who. Having said that I’ve felt a strange sort of camaraderie this week with my fellow frozen human beings as we all try to keep warm from head to toe. With such a wide assortment of walking woollies all around me it became so obvious how in it we all are together; in the cold, in the ice, in the world. In a time where there seems to be so many different ways of doing and saying things it feels nice for a while to all respond in one way, to all agree on one thing and to all be on the same page for a while. It reminds me of when it rains and suddenly all the umbrellas open up together. We are all part of the same existence, we are all made from the same stock. We all need to keep warm and protected, to feel safe and secure, to be loved and cared for. These requirements these human needs demonstrate the unity of mankind and the inherent commonalities between us. Though our individual differences are vast and varied it is our similarities that highlight our connectedness the most.
In cold weather like this I’ve seen people on the street smile at each other, strike up conversations more and generally be a bit more mindful of one another perhaps as a way of touching base and checking out with them that they're not alone in suffering the cold, that we're all cold. And the cold is so bitter and penetrating that even with all the layering going on right now no one is impervious to its bite. It makes me think how sensitive our bodies are and how fragile and vulnerable. I think we all know this very well as we cover up mightily with clothes to keep the cold out and the warmth in. Yet how much more do we do this with the internal fabric of our feelings as we frequently protect ourselves from the climate of our own emotional lives. That seems to be the part of us that feels most at risk in any season and all year round. When we walk indoors and the central heating wraps itself around our bodies we can take off the layers and thaw out a bit. But the layers that are worn on the inside are harder to shake. Guarding the heart is a full time job so we protect ourselves with coats of defences to keep us safe and intact. Maybe that’s why this last week with the temperature plummeting further and further the cold has created a warmth between people because it’s plain to see for all of us that we need protection at the most basic physiological level and the more layers we wear the more obvious that becomes. Our humanness is exposed not just for some of us but across the board and I think that this is what helps to bring us closer together and to connect more with those around us whether we know them or not.
As I look outside now much of the snow has gone and although that's a relief it also feels a bit sad as though the adventure and danger of it all is over, and like travel companions we must return to our own separate countries of thought. Do we continue to ignore each other on the train and revert back to driving fast again on the roads having lost the need to be careful? We probably will but for a short time we were united in our shivers and that is worth remembering.
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