#zille

Hallstatt, Austria - 2019

Zille, the Giant in charge of Mountains and minerals - in charge of the bones of the world itself - is a Giant much overlooked.

She has an important responsibility, but save the utilitarian moments when we need her immovable form, her solid edges, her stability - she is often overlooked.

She’s a neurotic creature, Zille - she’s friendly and she wants acknowledgment, but she shies from it if it’s given too forcefully. She expects to be relied on.

As one of eleven Giants, Zille might be the least revered. But she may be the most powerful: of all the Giants, she is the one who has a well-tended sense of responsibility. She has work ethic - not because she feels obligated by outside forces, but because she has found the core, the centre of herself, and that centre is in the creation of every mineral and rocky land-formation, every hill, every barrow and butte and cliff. She loves what she does, and she puts that love into something which, like her, is often overlooked.

People are grateful for her work only when they directly benefit from it, and I think that’s something some of us find difficult to tolerate, but under such circumstances one’s sense of self can thrive. Think of carpenters, of cleaners, of decorators, of factory workers; these jobs are necessary, but they're background noise to most people, only admired for a short moment when brought to a person's attention, that attention waning quickly.

Imagine doing all you did without acknowledgment. Of course, at first it seems a lonely idea, but aren’t we all tired of needing constant validation to enjoy our own work? Zille is not just a labourer - she is an artist as well, and her art might be something we consider simple, but everything from opals and diamonds to quartzes to shale all come from this one, friendly Giant, who expects only our acknowledgment, expects only those moments of appreciation before her work is once more in the background noise of our minds.

Zille hosted Zilloween - obviously a play on Hallowe’en - and when the world was ending, she gave us one last Zilloween celebration, that stretched on forever. Appropriate that she is the only Giant to have bones in her depiction, but the festival - while hosted by her - was not a time for worship and adulation, it was a time of connection to one another, a time of quiet gratitude and loud celebration. A time to come together.

Zille, to me at least, is a gentle and patient Giant, one slow to adapt and constantly inventing small, necessary things we don’t notice day-to-day. She’s the Giant who does the most unacknowledged work, and she’s kind about it.

Neuroses play a part as well - while the ideal is to work on things without the need for praise, even a Giant might feel, occasionally, neglected without some level of acknowledgment. Zille is happy enough to labour in the background, to create without the need for constant affirmation, but it certainly doesn't hurt to gently express one's appreciation.

In the end, Zille has a tranquility and a sense of self-love we might all aspire to, but it’s important to find the Zillots in your life - whether they know they are or not - and to make sure their neuroses don’t erode their self-worth. To make sure that, once in a while, they feel valued.

Be open, be kind, and thank them, and Zille, in simple and clear terms. There’s no need to grovel (gravel). There’s no need to fall over yourself with praise: simply make sure they know that their work is appreciated, and Zille herself will smile down on you.