words & art by shé

bookshelf

Category: Love

  • Essay #8: power or protection

    There is a Norway Spruce in the front yard – 40 or 50 feet tall, evergreen and gorgeous, it shields me from my neighbors’ view. When the setting sun hits it, the trunk turns golden orange. I look at this tree often: when I’m writing, eating, chopping vegetables. It has protected and shaded me for…

  • Essay #7: speeding down the highway

    Sunday afternoon, driving north on 1-5, I see flashing lights up ahead – cops. Is it a round robin? (That’s a swerving maneuver used to slow or stop traffic.) Wait — one of the cops is speeding toward me, heading south on the northbound side of the highway — what the hell!?! Another cop follows,…

  • Essay #6: the happiness code

    I’ve been editing a website for a non-profit. Uploading text has been simple enough, but suddenly I was unable to change photos. I followed directions, to the letter. The new photo appeared in the draft, but when I updated and uploaded the page — no photo. I tried again and again. Maybe I didn’t click…

  • Essay #5: interested or invested?

    I woke up this morning thinking about interest. I am not talking about money. Or maybe I am. I am talking about being interested in thoughts and feelings versus being invested in them, i.e, being affected by them, driven by them, disabled by them. I accidentally broke the glass in a picture frame. I tugged…

  • Essay #4: contortions

    Contort: [L contortus, pp of contorquere, fr. com- + torquere to twist – more at TORTURE]: to twist in a violent manner: to twist into a strained shape or expression syn see DEFORM. –Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary I have been doing Authentic Movement for about a year with a woman who has become my…

  • Essay #3: spring cleaning

    Dandelions are about to bloom. Time to dig ’em up and boil them for a nourishing tonic. Out in the rain last week, I dug in the dirt, getting wet and feeling fine. Or was I melancholy? Moods pass through me like weather: Hello Anger! Oh, Regret, back so soon? Aloha, Sadness. I don’t mean…

  • Essay #2: the monster is a puppet

    I recently watched The Empire Strikes Back. George Lucas came on before the film to explain that this was a different version than had first appeared in movie theatres. In the original, he said, “the ice monster was a hand puppet.” His comment struck me. The terrifying monster that almost kills Luke Skywalker…was a small…

  • Essay #1: accent on E

    Today marks the 48th anniversary of my birth. To celebrate these years on the planet, I plan to post 48 personal essays here, one every Monday. Why? A few years ago, my best friend died. Again. The first time it happened, I was 4 and he was my brother John. The second time, I was…