In the blink of an eye, it seems from the distance of nearly a year, our lives here in Western North Carolina, our ideas about what might happen at any given moment, our reactions to even the word hurricane, were changed forever.
Gina Malone, Editor
Since that fateful day last fall, not an issue of The Laurel has gone out that did not mention the name Helene on page after page. What it did. How it made us cry. What we learned. What we lost. But most often, these days, I think of how amazingly far we all—as individuals, as communities and as a region—have come. There are still signs of destruction; businesses and people still struggle; many find it hard even nearly 365 days later to come to terms with the tragedy. We remember our lives before, how unknowing we were in the golden days before September 27. But think about how amazing the recovery has been and what we’ve all learned about ourselves, our strengths, about how the arts—and nature—have the power to heal.
This issue, too, mentions the hurricane on nearly every page, but in the context of the many events being held to honor resilience, heroism, determination and accomplishments.
As much as I love words, I appreciate how music expresses emotions without them, how, to paraphrase Aldous Huxley, it expresses the inexpressible. This month, hear commemorative concerts by the Asheville Symphony and the Blue Ridge Orchestra.
For inspiring news about the visual arts, read about the artists of New Morning Gallery and how they embraced creativity after the devastation. A Tale of Two Cities, with events in Asheville and in New Orleans will be a partnership exhibition encompassing two cities whose residents share similar heartbreaks. And join Kelsey Schissel at Plays in Mud Pottery for a free, community-wide event—Leaves of Strength—a celebration of continuing to move forward with the help of art. “There’s something powerful about shaping something with your own hands,” Schissel says, “especially in a shared space filled with conversation and remembrance. It’s a gentle, symbolic way to mark the transition from devastation to growth—to acknowledge that we’ve endured something hard, and we’re still here, still creating.”
Here’s to transitions: from suffering to strengthening, from heartbreak to hope, from anxiety to creativity—and from summer to autumn. Wishing all of us a peaceful, magical September.
Gina Malone can be reached at gina@thelaurelofasheville.com
