I have been in Savannah for just over a week. At first all I noticed were the allergies (apparently me and flowering Pecan trees don’t get along too well). Then I noticed how the pharmaceutical cocktail I was taking to deal with the allergies made me nauseous for two days straight (sticking with nasal spray now). And then finally, it was time to face the overwhelming anxiety and heaviness I had been feeling since arriving.
It was there from the get go, but I had had more pressing matters to deal with. I didn’t know where it was coming from, I had not needed anxiety meds in months…but as I stood in the center of Calhoun Square (soon to be renamed Jubilee Square for very good reason) during a Ghost Tour, I found myself overwhelmed with sadness and the familiar pangs of my anxiety quickened my breath. As our tour guide told us the shameful truth of this particular square, the thousands of African American and Irish slaves buried beneath our feet, and the houses built upon that sacred ground, it all suddenly made sense.
Savannah is a mere 2 square miles. And while the acreage may be small, the history is long, monumental, and often tragic. From being the 13th and final of the British Colonies, to being a city built primarily by slave labor, to being a key battle ground in both the American Revolution and the Civil War, to being ravaged not once, not twice, but three times by Yellow Fever outbreaks, to two massive fires each destroying hundreds of buildings and causing many fatalities, as well as at least one notorious “murder” (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil)…the energetic imprints of these devastating events in such a small area give the city not only a noble and historic feel, but also an often heavy, eerie, sad, and spooky feeling.
While the architecture is breathtaking, the history is fascinating, the people are kind and welcoming, and the weather far more agreeable than New Hampshire in February…I do believe that for anyone who considers themselves a sensitive, or even just an empath(like myself), it is a city to be explored with reverence and curiosity, but also maybe not a city to stay in for too long without a break.
I love to explore, learn, and even feel history…sometimes those feelings are just heavier than others and need to be absorbed in smaller doses.