The past few weeks have been more difficult for some than others, but they have been difficult and it is in times like this that we come together and go below the surface, dig deeper into ourselves and find what really matters to us.

We are being urged to draw on our creativity in these slow times and even the UN has called on ‘creatives’ to help fight the crisis with ingenious public service announcements in these unusual times.
We live in a world of tweets, captions and memes and one that may have caught your eye this week was in reference to how we should remember the arts and their creativity when all this is over and they should always receive the recognition they need. Who doesn’t listen to an inspirational song, read a poem, go back to a favourite book or movie when one has time and needs to feel solace?

In the past week the quote “If we winter this one out, we can summer anywhere” has surfaced and been retweeted, regrammed and texted among Irish people at home and abroad and become the lifeline for many. The reason that the line has become so popular is obvious, offering a beautiful image of hopefulness during a dark time.

It was said by Seamus Heaney, Nobel-Prize-winning Irish poet, during an interview when discussing his collection ‘Wintering Out’, published in 1972. He explained how the title of the book came from “memories of cattle in winter fields. Beasts standing under a hedge, plastered in wet, looking at you with big patient eyes, just taking what came until something else came along. Times were bleak, the political climate was deteriorating”.

“just taking what came until something else came along”

A comfortless time, but with a sense of survival. So in this year with no promise of Spring, we can still be hopeful.