As the weather starts to grow colder, and as nights grow longer, my thoughts are turned to those means by which we stay warm and cozy as best as we are able (which is sometimes not very well). I am sure that I am not alone in this, and that many others feel drawn towards home and hearth and the cozy comforts there, in the face of gray skies and a certain chill in the air. Being someone who is particularly sensitive to my physical as well as social environment (something which has brought no end to difficulty and no end of creativity to my life), to express those sorts of concerns that spring from that environment comes almost as easily as breathing. So, as I sit in my basement Ottoman with the heat on in the dim light this evening, my thoughts turn to one of the chief pleasures that other people derive from home and hearth.

Some years ago a friend of mine, who was for two very stressful months a girlfriend, introduced me to the band Nickel Creek. Being a somewhat musical person myself, I tend to have a great deal of appreciation for other musical people, particularly those who have good taste and introduce me to bands that I had never heard of but whose music (and especially lyrics) I appreciate. Nickel Creek made five albums (six if you include their excellent best-of collection) of deeply moving contemporary folk music that spoke to my own sense of melancholy beauty. Among their songs was a touching song about loyalty in love, called “Why Should The Fire Die?” which was, not coincidentally enough, the title of their final studio album before going on a so-far indefinite hiatus [1].

Although “Why Should The Fire Die?” is a beautiful song, wondering why a love should grow cold since the narrator’s mother and father kept their flame alive, it is a song I do not relate to very well from personal experience. In contrary to the warm and loving experience of Nickel Creek, my own experience with matters of love and family history has been far closer to that of Hayley Williams of Paramore [2]. It is an immensely hopeful thing to think of a flame lasting forever, but there is often a great deal of cynicism and pessimism that goes into such matters, given the lack of experience of such loyalty and permanence. Having faith that someone is going to be willing to see you in the best and the worst times, stand by you and have your back, and still love you after knowing where you’ve been and what you have to wrestle with is an immensely powerful thing, but also something that is difficult for me to find.

So, as the weather gets cooler and the clouds grow darker, and the nights grow longer, my thoughts and the thoughts of many other people will turn to those things that make life warm and cozy. Perhaps it is listening to good music and curling up with a good book, or maybe there are some lucky people in one’s life that are good company, full of warmth and affection. Perhaps there is the enjoyment of good food as well. Whatever it is, let us remember to keep the flame alive, so that our relationships will be like the altar and incense of the tabernacle and temple, always burning to show our constancy of devotion. Hopefully we can all find that good fortune at least a little bit within our lives.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_Creek

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/the-only-exception/