Make art. Plant seeds.
This article was originally published via my newsletter. Sign up to get these broadcasts delivered straight to your inbox.
In the wake of the chaos unfolding in US politics, I'm breaking my creative hibernation to share with you a short story.
It was October 1939 and tensions were escalating with the onset of World War II.
It was a time when Adolf Hitler's rants filled the radio waves, fueling fear and uncertainty across Europe. And while Virginia Woolf wrote her novels, her husband Leonard Woolf wrote about history.
One day, as another ominous broadcast played on the radio, Leonard was planting iris bulbs in the garden as an attempt to maintain a sense of personal peace amid global chaos.
Suddenly, he heard Virginia’s voice from the sitting room window, calling him to come inside and listen to Hitler speak.
His response, as documented in his diaries, was profound:
“I shan’t come. I’m planting iris and they will be flowering long after he is dead.”
Observing wildflowers my Mum planted in our family home last Spring. Photo credit: Alex Sedgmond
Woolf’s words were, in a way, prophetic.
Hitler’s reign ended with his death, when he took his own life in 1945.
But the irises continued to bloom long after.
This highlights the enduring power of nature and art, both of which have the capacity to outlast and outshine even the most destructive of ideologies.
Just sending this out as a reminder that even in the hardest of times, acts of creation, hope, and beauty can prevail.