“Port William and Other Worlds”

There are places we long for, but will never go to. 

After finishing my first Wendell Berry novel, I was left with a sense of longing to know the soil of the fictional town, Port William.

Continuing my way through his works, the longing grew deeper as I learned more and more about the place that Hannah Coulter, Jayber Crow, and Mat Feltner called home.

In my longing, I found myself asking the question, “What good is learning to love a place that you can’t even go to?” 

As readers, writers, artists, and humans, we must come to terms with the fact that we are here. 

We are here and that means we are not in Port William, Middle Earth, or Aerwiar. 

But, I am coming to realize that these places are not meant for going, they are meant for changing. 

So, what good is there in knowing worlds that are not our own?

I have not gone to Port William, but everyday I consider my place within the reality of a membership. I now lend myself to others and allow others to lend themselves to me. I know the importance of remembering those who have once belonged to this place, and in so doing, have belonged to me. I believe that Port William has allowed me to cultivate a real and true curiosity towards my neighbors. 

These worlds and communities are real and exist in as much as we allow them to infiltrate our world and create good and true change.

This is the task of those who call themselves artists. 

Creating realities, paintings, and words that have the possibility of breaking through the natural brokenness of our own lives - and bringing about the possibility of good.