essays by shé

bookshelf

Tag: empath

  • Purging

    Books, people, food. On one end of the spectrum is nourishment, encouragement, fortification, body-building vitamins and minerals. Energy. On the other end is venom. Poison. Toxins. Pollution. In between, closer to the venomous end, are empty calories with no nutritional value. Enervators. Why are we attracted to poisonous people? Well, we may be related to…

  • Let it Be

    The search for an art studio is over. I am able to spread out under my catamaran neighbor, S/V Let it Be. “Poetic,” said the boatyard owner, saying of course I can use the space. His sister is an experimental artist, so he was completely unsurprised by my need to paint. Let It Be’s humans…

  • Support

    “Andale, Reina,” says the boatyard guard, opening the gate. It’s been awhile since I’ve been called Queen. It’s late and hot, and Habibi trembles in the wind. Scary. So I climbed off the boat and descended the ladder to terra firma. Because I can. In the middle of the Sea, I couldn’t, or wouldn’t. I…

  • On the Hard

    Seven days on the hard so far, hauled out of water and propped up on sticks. Well, strong metal supports that look like sticks compared to 10-ton Habibi. Is she really going to remain upright on land? The Bod is extremely wary, tiptoeing around deck, and the Mind is surprised every single day that passes…

  • Letting in the Wind

    “Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge.” —Audre Lorde. Change can be difficult. And, possible. Emotions are clues, perseverance necessary. Like so many, I struggle with inherited behaviors. In the middle of the night, after hours of hot air currents gusting through the cabin, I closed the hatches. The sound of whistling wind…

  • Hermosa

    This is the second Hermosa Beach for me, the first in California in 2014, about 400 miles away from where I now am in Sonora, México. Hermosa means beautiful in Spanish, and it’s true. This playa la hermosa features a reef, and yesterday, while someone was stealing my shoes and shades, I saw a small…

  • Serious Joy

    Now out of the hurricane belt, I’m thinking of other belts. Specifically, those on the travel lift in the nearby boatyard. This week I made an appointment to haul-out Habibi during a morning high tide on August 16. One benefit to daily distance swimming is physical exhaustion—I don’t have the energy to freak out over…

  • Unfurling

    “Everything that makes me who I am is a gift.” —Tammie Jo Shults, jet captain, Nerves of Steel. The jib is tightly wound, and so am I. We both need to relax and unfurl. I loosened the lines holding the sail, and for me, I found a nearby swimming hole. On my fifth visit, someone stole…