Leading up to this year’s Iceland Airwaves festival, I started having dreams that I was headed back there. I’m still having them. About once a week, I have a dream that I’m going to Iceland on a last minute trip by myself. Usually I try to find a friend who can come along with me, but often I end up traveling solo.
I’ve heard that Iceland is a place you don’t go just once. You start saying, “The first time I went to Iceland…” instead of “That time I went to Iceland…” Now that the country’s otherworldly landscapes have tenaciously taken hold in my consciousness, I’m starting to believe it.
Last year when we were there, I decided that I wanted to go back for Airwaves this year. And not just that, I wanted someone to send me there to write about it. How is that for an audacious dream? Obviously, that didn’t happen. I didn’t work to make it happen, either. And I’m ok with that. My work this year has taken me in a different direction. That said, I’d never pass up the chance to go and write about Airwaves if someone wanted to send me in the future!
I don’t know why I’ve been headed there so often in my dreams. Maybe because I was there about a year ago, during a really transitional point in my life. A lot of things were changing, and Iceland gave me the space (literally and figuratively) to think and make better choices. Maybe it’s because the temperatures have dipped and the days are getting darker and I’m taking inspiration and encouragement from how Icelanders compensate for winter darkness with warmth and light and coziness. Whatever it is, I do know that I’ll find myself back there someday.
I’m thinking of sharing a little more Iceland here. Maybe it will help me figure out why it’s been such a presence on my mind lately.
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