I woke up yesterday morning to my husband telling me about a terrorist attack that had occurred in Las Vegas. There was still more information coming out, but there was shooting at a concert. It was 5 a.m., so I was still a little fuzzy and not really grasping at the information I was just given. My first thought, “My god, those poor people! How could anyone have that much hate?” My second and third thoughts were to make sure my son was alright. He was snoozing in his bed, all cuddled up with his pup, Marshall, from Paw Patrol. Then immediately, albeit a little odd, I thought of something The Log Lady had said in a series of intros that was filmed for Twin Peaks syndication; “There is a sadness in this world, for we are ignorant of many things. Yes, we are ignorant of many beautiful things – things like the truth. So sadness, in our ignorance, is very real. The tears are real. What is this thing called a tear? There are even tiny ducts – tear ducts – to produce these tears should the sadness occur. Then the day when the sadness comes – then we ask: “Will this sadness which makes me cry – will this sadness that makes me cry my heart out – will it ever end?” The answer, of course, is yes. One day the sadness will end.
In the Secret History of Twin Peaks, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby says, “Margaret Lanterman is the sanest human being I ever met.” His brother, Robert, agrees with him, as do I. Listening and observing what’s around you is the most human trait one can possess. It also goes without saying that listening to your instincts, your gut, and even your log is an innate human feature that we should be more in tune with. Why is that when someone does listen to this voice or their intuition, from wherever it seems to come from, they are looked upon as strange or odd? Cooper, when he first comes to Twin Peaks, asks Harry, “Who’s the lady with the log?” Harry just answers plainly that they call her the Log Lady. Most of Twin Peaks embrace Margaret for her insight. As we saw in S3, Hawk is spiritually connected to the information that Margaret gives to him, as well as knowing that she speaks from a place that most others are afraid to tap into. Margaret has a gift of speaking honestly from a place that people are afraid to look towards. She also welcomes the visits and messages of her log. This goes hand in hand with being open and receptive of signs that are all around us. Margaret is a seer. You may take this to mean psychically, but I see her more as an observational seer. One who witnesses human nature, senses the world around her, and gives us what we need to know to be able to process and figure things out for ourselves.
Another one of the Log Lady’s intros that has stayed with me is from S1, Ep.6, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Yet there are those who open many eyes. ‘Eyes are the mirror of the soul,’ someone has said. So we look closely at the eyes to see the nature of the soul. Sometimes when we see the eyes – those horrible times when we see the eyes, eyes that… that have no soul – then we know a darkness, then we wonder: where is the beauty? There is none if the eyes are soulless.” This, my dears, is a magnificent take on how we choose to see things, how we choose to be seen, and how we choose to view the world in which we live in. All we’ve seen and witnessed lately has left me even questioning, “Where is the beauty of life?” I take a moment, look around and see it in many places. The young man who takes the time to help the little old lady with her groceries I happen to see when grabbing cream and milk for my office at the local store. The way my son grabs my face and says, “Mommy, you work hard and deserve a mini muffin!” The way people are coming together to help aid Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and now Las Vegas. These are acts of beauty. I have also seen the darkness on the other side of these acts, which I will never understand. The inhumanity that some people show in times like these, I think even our lovely Log Lady would shudder. She would reiterate, “…There is none if the eyes are soulless”.
We Twin Peaks fans have loved our Log Lady, Margaret Lanterman, for a long time. She has been a comic relief, a spirit guide, a welcome sight in an unknown landscape (I refer specifically to S3 on this note). If you have read any of my articles since I have started with 25 Years Later, you know my love for a certain Special Agent. Special Agent Dale Cooper is one of my all-time favorite characters of anything I have ever watched or read. My second all-time favorite would be Margaret ‘The Log Lady’ Lanterman. She is a familiar. To most, the way in which she conducts herself maybe peculiar, but to me it is perfect. She brings people into her fold who believe in her, who believe in her log, who are open to the possibilities of the unknown being known. Blind faith is a strange concept, but one in which I feel reveals someone’s true self. Faith does not have to mean on a religious level. You can have faith in many things, tangible and not tangible. Margaret has faith that her messages will present themselves to the right people in order to move forward and find meaning, to those who choose to accept it. For those who want to see life as a fully engaged being – a human being. There are many, like Margaret out there, who have messages, meaning, and actions that you should listen to, stand up for, and take notice of. To help you form your view of the world. Listen to those ‘Log Ladies’ who have a story to tell. You never know when you might need a little faith in humanity to help you feel that all is not lost. “As above, so below. The human being finds himself, or herself, in the middle. There is as much space outside the human, proportionately, as inside. Stars, moons, and planets remind us of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Is there a bigger being walking with all the stars within? Does our thinking affect what goes on outside us, and what goes on inside us? I think it does…”
Goodnight, Margaret. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you to your log and thank you for what you have taught us.