The Weight of the Cold

I woke up this morning to find the radiator had stopped working. The house felt thin, like the walls were made of paper and the wind was pressing its palms against the glass. I spent an hour huddled under a heavy wool blanket, just watching my own breath bloom in the air. It is strange how quickly we lose our sense of self when we are cold. We stop being people with schedules and worries, and we become something much simpler—creatures looking for warmth, looking for a way to endure the next hour. There is a quiet, stubborn dignity in that kind of survival. We don’t always need to be moving forward or achieving something grand. Sometimes, the most important thing we can do is simply stand our ground, side by side with those who share our burden, waiting for the sun to find us again. Does the cold make you feel more alone, or does it pull you closer to the people around you?

Aakash Gulzar has captured this exact feeling of quiet endurance in his beautiful image titled Winter’s Whisper. It reminds me that even in the harshest seasons, there is a strength in staying together. What do you see when you look at these horses standing against the frost?