at the end of the retrograde, a note from the author

Every time I begin a creative project, it seems to to memorialize a very specific period of time in my life, as though it is the Muses who decide my many epochs and eras. Of any work I’ve written in my life, at the end of the retrograde was by far the most complicated from start to finish. I started this book three years ago, not even certain what it was I was writing about.

It was during my deepest explorations in the surreal world, that I even came to fear this manuscript. Couldn’t even look at it sitting on my desk. Had to put it away, for fear that its expressions were too vulnerable, too true. I’m not sure anything can be too true for art. I’m not sure if keeping it it makes it any less real in the end.

If you have come this far, thank you so much for spending time with me. I hope that the doors you cross, the caves you venture, and the odysseys of your life are filled with thread and fire. If you are, or have ever visited, the surreal world, I hope to equip these forces to your quest. And as you conquer your own inner landscapes, know that you are not alone.

I like to think that the Universe expresses itself using creativity; experience, our invitation to it. I have also learned that the Universe is the master of timing. Have witnessed the near supernatural organization of time when we surrender to gravity, that force ensuring that, in the end, everything will fall right into place. I like to think that something far greater than me pressed pause on this work until the moment was exactly right. This feels like that moment.

every retrograde has its end.