In 2022 a wildfire swept through beloved woodland close to my village. That year, more than 75,000 French hectares were consumed in flames and wildfires rampaged in 26 European countries. Change is inevitable but we often resist it. Resistance expresses in us as fear: fear of the loss of solid presence in a stable environment. Change manifests with disruptive, violent chaos or in gentle patterns we think we comprehend and can assimilate. But a sense of identity and connection begin to disintegrate in the spaces in between dramatic events. Familiar forms lose their clarity, edges blur, fine dust obscures. Resistance in the environment manifests in adaptation and the supple use of newly created space.  Evolving ideas transcend the original drama of the wildfire, growing more profound for me and resonating ever more widely as I work. In this overfilled, noisy, modern environment many of us live in, absence intrigues and is hugely creative.