Seal Woman, Come Home

The new light reflected off the clouds and waves this morning. It was an orange crush sunrise. I walked along the little road next to the shoreline to where the beach is overtaken by the Sound at high tide. I turned around and felt like I was being watched. I looked out to the water and 20 feet away there was a seal bobbing in the waves. It was staring at me. I stared back. Our eyes met and it went under. I waited a few moments, and the seal popped back up to get another look at me. Our eyes met again. It dove down again. I walked on.

The seal woman is here.

I’ve been painting women with seals for thirty years. It began with a piece called “Selkie”, named after the Irish myth about a woman who is a seal, who gets stuck in the form of a woman when a man steals her sealskin from the rocks. Selkie marries the man, and they have lots of babies. When she finds her sealskin hidden in the attic, she grabs it and runs for the shore. She is made whole again and swims away.

The story was captured in the film “The Secret of Roan Inish”. I still have a DVD of that movie which I drag out on a rainy day. It’s a beautiful little bit of art, if you’re interested.

This morning, I was reminded of the Selkie, the paintings, and the feeling of being part human and part Nature. These connections take on a new meaning for me lately. I feel like I have come home to myself, to my truest character; and to a lonely-beautiful city that doesn’t seem to mind me being here.

In my work, I witness humans in moments of their truest selves. I also accompany those who are at the end of the line in dysfunctional behaviors that deny their truest selves. Being with others in moments of change and transition has required and inspired me to find the beating heart of who I am, and to respect myself. Authenticity is difficult. It's easier to hide and mask who we really are- but being a true person is worth it.

In the days ahead, people who think about things and feels about things need to find their truest natures. People of good conscious and good will must hold on to goodness. We must share it, expand on it, and believe in it. There is beauty, purity, and wildish wholesomeness in the world and in ourselves. It feels imperative that we be true to the untamed authenticity of our souls.