Mermaids

As I strolled through the shops of Chatham, MA last weekend, my husband and kids in tow (and glowing with a little bit of something I can't name, since this is where hubs and I honeymooned 13.5 long years ago and here we were with our OFFSPRING!), this book caught my eye and I knew I had to have it.

But why? It's not a children's book, but not a juicy piece of fiction either (those are my two preferred pieces of literature). It was $16 and I am thrifty (to a fault). But as I picked it up and started reading, every single page spoke to me more urgently than the last.

Mermaids, it explained, are the symbol of transition. My tail slapped against the painted pine floorboard. Mermaids can make a barnacle blush. My hair fell out of its ponytail. Mermaids must never lose sight of the sea. My linen scarf became a strand of pearls.

I myself am feeling a bit pulled by the tides of transition -- professionally, personally, as a mother and a friend -- I am having one of those periods of rebirth and reclaiming of myself. Who am I? (I'm a walrus, said with ballpoint pens attached to my lip) and with whom do I want to spend my precious time? And doing exactly what? The answers to these questions are changing, and I am simultaneously excited and terrified at the possibilities.

I also have a tendency to feel (YES! THAT'S THE WORD!) landlocked. As a solid water sign who has always answered the call of the water -- from my own birth, when I was placed into a warm bath of water directly from the safety of my mother's womb, to my young life living on the ocean, to the waterbirths of my own 3 children -- I am currently in a sorry state of being landlocked.

And this book confirmed what I already knew in many ways -- the only way to combat that feeling is to spend time with your mermaid friends:

"If there is one thing mermaids know, it's that they have more fun together. Mermaids never betray each other. They know it's a sisterhood, not a competition. Mermaids encourage and compliment each other, swooning over their achievements and beauty. They give each other gifts that glorify their kindred spirits. The more mermaids, the merrier."

~Margot Datz

I will be back, occasionally, to offer you more mermaid wisdom, because I think it's so important to remember that it's natural for a mermaid to feel landlocked, and the only antidote is to jumps into the arms of a fisherman...or reach out for a little mer-therapy.