MEMORY IS MORE INDELIBLE THAN INK
My writing about the expanding bond between the place and me evolved organically. An ordinary journal would not allow us to write together. After multiple attempts to mediate this, I began mapping our encounters on vellum, scrawling in ink across the pages. I then washed the vellum in the water, letting my thoughts go as the ocean left its own signature in reply.
TRUE NAVIGATION BEGINS IN THE HEART
The journal pages document the interconnection between my curated places and myself by recording my own metaphoric “tidal levels” as we rise and fall together. Washing them in the ocean leaves a tidal imprint on the paper too. Later, the dried and folded page reveals a pattern of our superimposed interaction, intertwining my writing with the water’s blurred response. The page comes to resemble a Rorschach test made up of the layers of strata that were laid down as our connection deepened.
ONE GOOD SPLASH
With the terrain constantly fluctuating, I’m always seeking new sites to wash my journal pages. Summers bring calm waters carrying sand, while the winter storms chisel beaches down to their bare bones. Both offer ample opportunities for original ideas, but I’ll admit that waves breaking over tide pools are my personal favorite. If I’m fortunate, the sea doesn’t take the paper along with it.