Dear Soulmate,
Just yesterday I returned to Boston after a weekend in Iceland. The experience was breathtaking and left me in awe. I am certain that even the best of writers would have difficulty arranging the words to describe it.
Iceland is stoic in its beauty and its people are as friendly as they are protective of their heritage. The weather hovered in the 40s and the wind relentlessly swept in from the angry sea and across the weathered landscape. Snow capped mountains lingered on the otherwise barren horizon.
As a journalist I came armed with questions. I had also read Vanity Fair’s recent article of Iceland, in which I learned more about the collapse of Iceland’s economy. And the effects of such a crisis are difficult to wrap your mind around.
There are signs of a stagnant economy everywhere. Hundreds of cranes are halted across the landscape beside uncompleted buildings and houses. But this is only a glimpse of what curious anthrolpologsts from around the world are flying in to the country to witness.
And in the midst of all of this, from sharing drinks with locals at Reykjavik’s world famous bar Kaffibarinn, to having an intimate lunch with Iceland’s secretary of state, I found time to take in the unaltered beauty of the country.
Yesterday I walked along the gravel path and over the wooden bridge that arcs the murky blue water of the world reknowned Blue Lagoon spa. The remoteness and obscurity of the landscape was incredibly overwhelming and left me feeling like I had developed a more personal relationship with the
nature of the country.
And while there are t-shirts inscribed “Lost in Iceland” for sale at local souvenir shops, I could not help but feel as though I found a part of myself there.
There was something competely fascinating and intriguing about this place. Although I was only there for a few days, it captured me. On the plane ride home I began drafting ideas for the kind of story I may pitch to the Boston Globe. In the midst of the world’s most extreme economic calamity, the press has failed to accurately explore the people… and their story is worthy of being justly told.
Love, R
letters2soulmate 