Nature Writing Feels Mandatory
An essay on the things Hurricane Helene buried.
HI FRIENDS 👋
Today’s newsletter includes an essay inspired by our next Book Club for Writers book selection, Writing Wild: Forming a Creative Partnership with Nature.
My shells are gone.
Actually, let me rephrase that: as of Thursday, when Hurricane Helene brought her drama through Florida, my shells are buried.
By “my shells,” I mean the shells I’ve spent the past year collecting. My shells that live in the valley of the dunes, the border between Neptune Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
Today, when I go to the dune, I can’t find them. They’re somewhere beneath all that sand Helene kicked up before she flew north to the Carolinas and continued her dirty work.
My pile of buried shells is not storm damage. Far from it. I, along with the rest of Northeast Florida, got lucky this time. My fellow Floridians to the west: not so. My fence snapped in two places, my yard is still covered in limbs, and my power went out for four hours, but none of this was surprising. What was surprising, aside from watching footage of Helene as she beat the absolute shit out of the gulf coast (fuck you, Helene!), was going down to the beach to add to my shell pile only to find it was no longer visible.
It feels like waving goodbye to a friend I won’t see for a very long time.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been indulging in the woo-woo more than usual lately: The Artist’s Way, tarot, and a near-daily ritual involving shells. On my birthday last year, I went down to the beach for a chilly November swim and a three-card tarot pull—cards to represent my present, path, and potential. Five of Pentacles. The Magician, reversed. Seven of Swords. My tarot book spoke of cutting losses. Channeling divine energy. Throwing caution to the wind.
When I pulled my birthday tarot, I’d recently finished reading Writing Wild: Forming a Creative Partnership with Nature, which happens to be our next Book Club for Writers pick. I was thinking a lot about rituals involving nature and decided to form my own, right then and there.
For the Five of Pentacles, I plucked a battered scallop from the sand, representing the losses I could stand to cut. For the Magician, I found a swirly shell, representing a pathway to the divine. For the Five of Pentacles, the darkest shell I could find, representing bold action.
The ritual became routine very quickly. Every time I walked the beach, I’d find three shells that fit these descriptions. I made every walk a scavenger hunt. And on my way back over the dunes, I’d ask myself three questions:
What’s a loss I can cut?
How can I get a taste of the divine today?
What’s something bold I can stand to do?
I would make my resolutions and cast the shells in the same spot in the dune. Over time—months—they accumulated into a massive pile. A midden of intention.
Hurricane season doesn’t end until November 30. But every Floridian knows that September and October are the gnarly months.
As of today, we’re over the hump, but we’re keeping our supplies stocked: bottled water in the pantry, fresh batteries in the flashlights, tanks full of gas.
I move into the remainder of the year feeling equipped and ready. Grateful that one storm has passed. Grateful for the shells I’ve yet to cast in the blank-canvas dune.
WRITING ABOUT NATURE
Liked this newsletter issue? You’ll love the next Book Club for Writers selection.
Once a quarter, Book Club for Writers discusses a book about writing and creativity. Our thoughtful, tender-hearted group meets again on Zoom on Wednesday, October 30, 8-9:30pm EST, to discuss Writing Wild: Forming a Creative Partnership with Nature by Tina Welling.
Join the discussion by becoming a paid subscriber today. It’s just $5 for the month of October, and you can cancel anytime.
Paid subscribers, scroll down: you’ll find the calendar event and Zoom link for our discussion beneath today’s paywall. See you on 10/30!
CURRENTLY READING
📚 BOOKS: Mary Jane: A Novel by Jessica Anya Blau, a lovely bildungsroman rec’d to me by my local indie. Also, Dickens and Prince by Nick Hornby, which I read in one very fun sitting: if “music” and “literature” are your trivia categories of choice, you’ll love this delightful little book.
💌 NEWSLETTERS:
from generously reviewed my zine, 100 Swims, alongside Sheila Heti’s Alphabetical Diaries: a juxtaposition that could not possibly be more flattering, considering that Sheila Heti is one of the writers that made me want to start writing in my early 20s!
Speaking of zines,
from recently made a zine, too: I immediately ordered a copy and adored every page. Also, my good friend from came to visit and wrote a lovely account of his time in my hometown: a must-read for my Jacksonville friends.🧰 RESOURCES: The wonderful writer Megan Mayhew Bergman recently led a free Op-Ed Writing Workshop, and the class recording and round-up of resources is available here through Election Day.
🤑 Today below the paywall: everything you need to access the next Book Club for Writers meeting on October 30. I’d love to have you!