A Journal of Meditations on Grief in the Norwegian Arctic

by Lisa Kitchens

Prologue

By honoring wilderness, we honor beauty. Beauty is not peripheral, but at the core of what sustains us. Awe and wonder ignite our imagination. We are inspired. We witness the magnificent and miraculous nature of creation. We are humbled. Wilderness becomes soul-settling: a home-coming: a reminder of what we have forgotten—that where there is harmony there is wholeness. The world is interconnected and interrelated. Wild nature is not only to be protected, but celebrated.

—Terry Tempest Williams, Erosion: Essays of Undoing

Notes from the Author

In December of 2020, nine months after the world’s initial lockdown due to the Covid19 pandemic, my partner and I were in a life-threatening car accident. I broke my neck, fractured my skull, and hurt my brain—bad. I don’t remember the accident as I lost consciousness. So as I began the winding path of healing, my existence became a voyage of assembling together pieces of my life—searching through the fragments to begin again. 

Before the accident, I was devoting much of my work as an artist and educator to finding ways to connect with our planet to help drive meaningful change. I thought going to the Arctic would be an opportunity to continue this work. But after the accident, I found it to be so much more. This place—that is considered the “ground zero” of the Climate Crisis. This place—that is undergoing enormous change and devastation. This place is where I found healing. Even now, months after my time spent there, the Arctic continues to teach me about life and loss. 

This digital journal is a collection of some of my writings and media while onboard Tallship Antigua as an artist-in-residence with The Arctic Circle Residency. As we sailed through wilderness areas in the Norwegian Arctic, fragments from my life drifted in and out of my consciousness as fragments from the planet’s life floated in and out of my understanding. 

What follows are personal accounts of my internal and external world for the 18 days I was at sea. This is my attempt at assembling together these fragments to make a new story. One that embraces brokenness as part of existence, and one that knows healing is a communal act shared even with the melting ice at the top of the world. 

Thank you for coming along for the journey. 

The Journal
 
i. TROMSØ

I arrive in transition. I arrive from the air.

I wonder how it is that I landed somewhere like this. I wonder how I became so lucky?

 
ii. FJORDS

What mystery lives in these mountains?
What wisdom is frozen in the ice?
Here lies the history of the world.
Centuries of all-knowing.

 
iii. BARNETS Sea

Who can say they own the wild places of the Earth? 
Who can say they rule the sea?
This wild, mighty ocean has no laws
no rules 
no owner.

 
iv. SVALBARD

Outside the ship the water is almost frozen. A slushy ice puzzle all around. 
The ice seems to reflect my internal life—slushy, slow-moving, grey.

Audio Notes

Ice melting glaciers polar bears walruses Arctic fox narwhal bowhead whale climate change rising temperatures disappearing habitats coastal erosion sea level rise global warming adaptation resilience reflection silent crisis threatened ecosystems human impact environmental degradation sustainability stewardship crossroads hope action voices rising solidarity preservation future choice consequences lament.

Letters to a Glacier

Inspired by the presence of Dahlbreen (Part Four, Day 16), this project invites us to write a letter to a glacier.

Letter writing involves focusing our attention, bringing presence to our thoughts and words, and communicating with care. What would you share with one of our Earth's melting glaciers? Words of encouragement? Shared grief? Love?

Send us your letters. We will collect the letters and share them in a digital community project (coming soon).

Thank you for participating.

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