Today I am 48, and I no longer feel like I am becoming someone new so much as returning to myself. This is a reflection on memory, identity, and the many versions of who we become before we learn how to come home again.
Author: The Clever Confidante
Always, your trusted friend
What the Siren Symbolizes
(c) Manchester City Galleries; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation I first encountered the Siren when reading The Odyssey. In that epic tale, she is portrayed as an alluring, powerful, mermaid-like creature whose voice lures men to their doom. They can't resist her, even though her island is surrounded by the bones of her previous… Continue reading What the Siren Symbolizes
Maybe Belief Has Always Been the Magic
“Witches call it spells. Religious people call it prayer. Spiritualists call it manifestation. Atheists call it the placebo effect. Scientists call it quantum physics. Everyone is arguing over the name. No one is denying its existence.”Unknown I came across this quote months ago, and like most things that linger in the mind, it refused to… Continue reading Maybe Belief Has Always Been the Magic
We the People
The Open Circle This morning, I noticed a bumper sticker on a truck. The kind you can spot from a distance: lifted, oversized tires, the whole aesthetic dialed all the way up. The sticker itself was exactly what you might expect. A bold American flag. A familiar phrase stretched across it: “We the People.” I… Continue reading We the People
May: The Tending
Looking toward May, I can’t help but anticipate a tending. Coming from the space I’ve been occupying,the fallow, the seed planted,I find myself asking what this asks of me next. When I think of the seed, there isn’t a sudden bloom.No clear moment where everything shifts into color. Not yet. If April was the seed,quietly… Continue reading May: The Tending
Southwest Chicken Cowboy Caviar
As we get closer and closer to warmer months, I find myself craving classic Cowboy Caviar. I’m a fan of anything scoopable, crunchy, and chip-worthy, but I’ve learned that if I want it to actually hold me over, it needs more than just beans and veggies. So this version became a hybrid: part cowboy caviar,… Continue reading Southwest Chicken Cowboy Caviar
April: The Seed
April has been quieter and softer than I expected. Not in the same way as before, not like January's subtle adjustments, the pause that holds its breath. Not like February's cleansing and stillness that waits for something to begin. This is a different kind. It's the kind of quiet where something has already begun, something… Continue reading April: The Seed
When Do I Turn Brand New
When do I turn brand new?Does it happen all at oncepoof, she’s gone,like the flick of a magician’s wand? Or is it gradual,unnoticeduntil one day you look backand see the distance? Like staying with my auntwho lives next to the freewaythe first night,the roar is all I hear.It rattles the glass.Then one day,I realizeI don’t… Continue reading When Do I Turn Brand New
The Sovereign Siren
This is part of a three-year exploration of the Siren archetype that involves moving from survival to stillness, and finally, to sovereignty. For the last seven years, the ground wouldn’t stop shaking. I thought I was being punished, but I was being uncoupled from the need for anyone else’s permission. In the chaos, I reached… Continue reading The Sovereign Siren
Here Anyway
When I was young, it was easy for me to love. I handed out my heart like there was an infinite supply, like it was a thing that couldn't be dented, or bruised, or tossed aside. There was no math in my affection or comprehension of the harm others could do. At that age, love… Continue reading Here Anyway