This is such an amazing piece...I wish it could be something everyone has to read!!! I cried. Your descriptions are beautiful and kept me paying attention the whole way through. I especially like the talking to friends and how open they were about other things but not swimming and then the image "like oyster shells, their stories pry open.." I love that the water spirits chose you to tell the stories. Keep telling them!
Thank you. This will be a chapter in my memoir "Water in My Bones" about my quest at 50 years old to learn to swim, dive, and map sunken slave ships. I am happy the piece resonated with you. It's the encouragement I need to keep writing.
Wow, epigenetics and the slave trade. I love essays where I learn something, and that was the case with yours. Tough historical material interweaved with the personal makes for such a worthwhile read. Thank you for sharing.
Great piece! I've spent lots of time in Akumal over the decades and I've had some eye opening snorkeling experiences. A whole world down there. I love your ancestral healing exploration as well. We all could benefit from this shadow work. Sharing this with a friend who frequents the Akumal coast and is a diver. Keep talking to the water spirits. I'm in the Mexican desert now, I'm not sure what the cactus are saying but I'm listening? Best to you.
Thank you! I have snorkeled and am actually swimming now. Akumal is a very healing place. I LOVE that you're in the Mexican desert. The cactus probably have lots of stories. My neighbor is a shaman who focuses on plant-based healing and experiences. He makes the best carrot curry soup. Please let me know if or when you return to Akumal.
for sure. I live a couple blocks away from the Sea of Cortez but it's not swimming friendly. Miss the Caribe but I'm here doing other stuff. Rescuing dogs and pulling ticks. I'm a retired chef and carrot curry soup sounds amazing. Not a ton of interesting produce on the west side interior, but it's temporary (2.5 years later...) will def keep you on my radar. :-) I'm happy you're swimming! That's the best. I love how it sounds under there.
Your writing moves me deeply. Thank you and your ancestors for your courage, beauty of spirit, and for the strength in your dedication to life and truth. Feeling gratefully humbled by you and your journey. I look forward to your book.
Love this as it moves from your head in a cooking pot to the real terrors of the deep. Your ancestors need the rest of this story!! So do your readers!!
Ana, wow. Thank you. As writers, we often create in isolation. I constantly question whether I am “good enough “ to even submit my work for publication. I appreciate the encouragement.
Remember when we were kids and we'd ask each other those crazy questions, like "How would you like to die?" I used to say, drowning, because it seemed romantic, or at least that's how it looked on TV. As I grew older, I'd imagine death by suffocation, and thought of the best but boring way, in your sleep, but after your essay, you're making it sound good again. Recently, I finished The Wager by David Grann, and he mentioned how a group of indigenous people from South America, who were captured by the Spanish, tried to revolt while at sea, and were successful, but then they were captured again. They, too, decided it was better to jump overboard than suffer the fate of being ill-treated and enslaved. Thank you, Kerra, for your thought-provoking, insightful, and beautiful words. xo
Whenever I listen to your stories, I am transported. To the pot where you bravely dunk your face and blow bubbles, to the open seas where enslaved people leap to their freedom even in death, to the swimming pools where squirmy white kids learn to swim and have no idea what lies beneath the surface. I deeply appreciate you.
This is such an amazing piece...I wish it could be something everyone has to read!!! I cried. Your descriptions are beautiful and kept me paying attention the whole way through. I especially like the talking to friends and how open they were about other things but not swimming and then the image "like oyster shells, their stories pry open.." I love that the water spirits chose you to tell the stories. Keep telling them!
Thank you. This will be a chapter in my memoir "Water in My Bones" about my quest at 50 years old to learn to swim, dive, and map sunken slave ships. I am happy the piece resonated with you. It's the encouragement I need to keep writing.
Yes keep writing please!
Thank you! It's also an addiction. (LOL)
Great, so this is part of a bigger work. Onward!
Thank you!
Wow, epigenetics and the slave trade. I love essays where I learn something, and that was the case with yours. Tough historical material interweaved with the personal makes for such a worthwhile read. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you! It’s a delicate task to weave in the historical details without losing the reader.
Beautiful. I love the weaving of spirits with history and your reclaiming of your ancestors and your fearlessness in the water.
Thank you! I appreciate your comments. I have learned to acknowledge my fear in the water. It’s still present and I try anyway.
Powerful writing. I could feel/hear the Spirits talking to you.
Thank you. They are always with me.
The things we don't know, have failed to know, we need to know. A powerful, lyrical, beautifully constructed education. Thank you.
Thank you for reading. I am glad it resonated with you.
Great piece! I've spent lots of time in Akumal over the decades and I've had some eye opening snorkeling experiences. A whole world down there. I love your ancestral healing exploration as well. We all could benefit from this shadow work. Sharing this with a friend who frequents the Akumal coast and is a diver. Keep talking to the water spirits. I'm in the Mexican desert now, I'm not sure what the cactus are saying but I'm listening? Best to you.
Thank you! I have snorkeled and am actually swimming now. Akumal is a very healing place. I LOVE that you're in the Mexican desert. The cactus probably have lots of stories. My neighbor is a shaman who focuses on plant-based healing and experiences. He makes the best carrot curry soup. Please let me know if or when you return to Akumal.
for sure. I live a couple blocks away from the Sea of Cortez but it's not swimming friendly. Miss the Caribe but I'm here doing other stuff. Rescuing dogs and pulling ticks. I'm a retired chef and carrot curry soup sounds amazing. Not a ton of interesting produce on the west side interior, but it's temporary (2.5 years later...) will def keep you on my radar. :-) I'm happy you're swimming! That's the best. I love how it sounds under there.
I keep coming back to this essay. Your writing is so powerful and beautiful. Thank you for this piece!
Thank you for your comment. I'm learning to write and be in an empowered way.
Your writing moves me deeply. Thank you and your ancestors for your courage, beauty of spirit, and for the strength in your dedication to life and truth. Feeling gratefully humbled by you and your journey. I look forward to your book.
Thank you, Eliza. I woke up to your message this morning. Thank you for reminding me that our stories matter.
So beautiful. It did that thing writing can do – transported me for a few minutes, and told me a story I’m glad I now know
Love this as it moves from your head in a cooking pot to the real terrors of the deep. Your ancestors need the rest of this story!! So do your readers!!
Yes, I am looking for a publisher.
This essay is beautiful and compelling. Thank you Kerra!
Thank you for reading it! I am working on an earlier chapter.
I look forward to reading it!
Kerra, I am speechless.
Ana, wow. Thank you. As writers, we often create in isolation. I constantly question whether I am “good enough “ to even submit my work for publication. I appreciate the encouragement.
Don´t stop Lightning Bolton!!!!
Hahaha! Thank you.
Remember when we were kids and we'd ask each other those crazy questions, like "How would you like to die?" I used to say, drowning, because it seemed romantic, or at least that's how it looked on TV. As I grew older, I'd imagine death by suffocation, and thought of the best but boring way, in your sleep, but after your essay, you're making it sound good again. Recently, I finished The Wager by David Grann, and he mentioned how a group of indigenous people from South America, who were captured by the Spanish, tried to revolt while at sea, and were successful, but then they were captured again. They, too, decided it was better to jump overboard than suffer the fate of being ill-treated and enslaved. Thank you, Kerra, for your thought-provoking, insightful, and beautiful words. xo
Thank you for your gorgeous, slightly heart breaking, and thoughtful response.
Beautiful, powerful work.
Thank you!
This is deeply moving and emotionally powerful. Also edifying. I will need to read it again, so that I won’t forget the details. Thank you.
Thank you! I am glad it resonated with you.
Whenever I listen to your stories, I am transported. To the pot where you bravely dunk your face and blow bubbles, to the open seas where enslaved people leap to their freedom even in death, to the swimming pools where squirmy white kids learn to swim and have no idea what lies beneath the surface. I deeply appreciate you.