Saved by a Song Writer
Photo by Keith Wako
Saved by a Songwriter
“But here’s what I know: artists are like firemen; when the rest of the world is running away from the explosion, they run to it and report back.” -Mary Gauthier
It’s just past the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Helene. Just as Western North Carolina has begun to rebuild, recover, and start to heal from slicing emotional wounds, a series of wildfires has ravaged Western North Carolina counties. It’s been terrifying and haunting, an eerie apocalyptic feeling of impending doom has loomed over us again. Much too close for comfort, only a few weeks ago we were yet again at the mercy of Mother Nature. Our forest floors, highways, and yards have been tinderboxes of debris waiting to spark and explode at any moment.
Photo by Soly Moses
Even as the fires in Haywood, Polk, Henderson, and Swain Counties were eventually contained with tireless efforts of countless fire crews and a change in forecast, the Swannanoa Valley experienced an additional isolated fire that began on April 5th. This fire started with machinery catching fire and ignited in a mulchyard off Highway 70 sending plumes of black smoke in the air. Though this fire is contained, this fire still burns. The hazy air is filled with ash and tastes of smoke and soot.
The recent wildfires in WNC and Swannanoa have been triggering, to say the least. Our wounds are fresh, not even close to healing, a slim scab just beginning to form, and these wildfires have regurgitated emotions of panic, helplessness, and fear. We have been teetering on the edge again, pushed beyond our limits, having experienced such intense loss of landscape and livelihood. The thwack of fire helicopters flying over during the fires was an evocative reminder of the days immediately after Helene when helicopters flew over at all times of day, first for search and rescue and then to deliver much-needed supplies.
There have been incredible strides toward recovery over the past few months in the Swannanoa Valley, from weekly litter and debris picked up to housings being rebuilt, and land being cleared and reseeded. Beloved Asheville has made it a priority to help rebuild homes in the hardest hit areas, most recently Beacon-Village. Co-director of Beloved Asheville, Amy Cantrell, understands that rebuilding home is rebuilding hope, and they are working to help bring displaced persons home so their healing process can begin as she describes in WLOS’s recent article, “Local nonprofit aims to bring healing to Swannanoa with home reconstruction project.”
Yet still there are numerous families left without homes, people without reliable income and people that still struggle with food security. As more and more relief and supply stations have closed up and inflation and political uncertainty prevail, families affected by Hurricane Helene are still struggling, and not just with the financial burden of this natural disaster but the emotional burdens too.
Several weeks after Hurricane Helene, I was introduced to Grammy-nominated folk singer and songwriter Mary Gautheir at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. She was the opening act for one of my favorite songwriter Jason Isbell. Between playing powerful songs with deft lyrics Mary read from her book Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting. At the time, my home in Swannano had no power or water, my children’s school was shuttered for the foreseeable future, and I was aching with the debilitating decision of moving them to a new district and renting a place to live so I could return to work. As she read the quote below, the pain was palpable and fresh, the gut-wrenching decision I was making to move my family and switch my children to new schools. These words lifted me and helped me start to feel and process the profound pain I was in. Mary read from her book Saved by a Song:
“But here’s what I know: artists are like firemen; when the rest of the world is running away from the explosion, they run to it and report back. Artists feel the heat, touch the burn, write what they have to write, the particular story they are on fire for, the one that breaks their own hearts, the one that only they can tell,” (Gauthier 171).
This quote shook me to the core. I felt seen, heard, and known writhing in the searing pain that I was experiencing post natural disaster, and felt implored to write about it as often as I could. I bought Mary Gauthier’s book Saved By a Song. This book has given me hope and inspiration during the darkest of nights, and I know her words and songs have done that for countless others.
In the wake of the recent wildfires in Western North Carolina, this quote literally and figuratively is spot on. As fear and uncertainty threaten to undo us, still healing from the residual trauma of Hurricane Helene, we cannot run away from this pain but must run towards it.
I must feel the pain ache in my bones, course through my blood, and then let it pour out on the page and progress on my grief journey. I owe it to my Western North Carolina community to continue to document and share what many people are feeling and thinking.
And the other residents of Western North Carolina who have experienced unimaginable trauma and grief, much greater than my own, need to tell their stories too. As Mary writes in her book Saved By a Song:
“Trauma is removal. Removal from one’s true self, removal from others . The road home (and for healing that Mary offered and witnessed when songwriting with veterans) is paved in human connections, and it happens in small and safe communities, where you know you are not alone. Turns out this is what songs do best. They show our insides on the outside, reveal secrets, and demonstrate that we humans are more or less in the same boat,” (Gauthier 216).
Let the residents of Western North Carolina continue to be known, heard, and understood. We are not alright yet. Let us not writhe in fear and isolation but find hope, love, peace and healing in safe places and communities where our stories can be witnessed, our vulnerabilities held, and we can feed and feel connections with each other.
Gauthier, Mary. Saved by a Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting. New York, Ny, St. Martin’s Essentials, 2021.
