Ecosexuality & Solastalgia

The Body Is a Doorway Outtake

(image of the now extinct Kauaˊi ˊōˊō bird)

Now that The Body Is a Doorway is published, I’m returning to all the original essays and reflections that inspired the project but could not find a space within the final book. Today I’m sharing a piece that I originally penned in Summer 2021.

Ecosexuality & Solastalgia

Crawl behind the curtain of water blinking viridian then violet then anemone red. The waterfall “combs” the light, sorting out the rainbow from the white glare of noonday sun. Water droplets suspended in the air hold these colors. Breathing in deeply you think you can taste it: the alchemical fusion of light and movement and water and heat. Bergamot. Hinoki cedar. Oscillating between sweet and tangy. Your body fits perfectly into the cave formed by the rock shelf and the falling water. You close your eyes, slip a hand into the falling water, jolted into somatic release as gravity pulls your fingers down with the chill current. Delicious. You fit into the landscape like you grew there. Like the rock around you was a shell that you excreted as so many minerals and formed from your own body.