Skewed North by Jolene Dames

Skewed North by Jolene Dames

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Skewed North by Jolene Dames
Skewed North by Jolene Dames
When the Land Speaks
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When the Land Speaks

A Ritual for Releasing, Returning, and Rebuilding

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Jolene Dames
May 09, 2025
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Skewed North by Jolene Dames
Skewed North by Jolene Dames
When the Land Speaks
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Some places don't just stay on the map.
They stay in your bones.
They show up in your dreams.
They call you back—again and again—until you finally realize: it’s not just a location. It’s a direction.

For me, the Yucatán was never just a destination. It was a turning point. A recalibration. A creative and spiritual breadcrumb trail that I didn’t even realize I was following.

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I returned more than once—drawn by something invisible, something intuitive. A pull in the bones. A whisper in the sand. A sense that the land itself had something to say. And maybe it did.

It wasn’t loud, but it was persistent. Create. Clear. Play. Rebuild.

It started with long, salty beach walks that turned into art hunts—gathering the discarded and weathered remains of life: tangled wire, broken shells, bleached coral, rusted scraps. What began as beach cleaning became beach listening. We were creating with what had been left behind. Transforming it. Reimagining it.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that was feng shui in motion. Clearing the old. Honoring the forgotten. Making space for the new. It’s the current of alchemy, the exchange of transformation.

That season became a creative sanctuary. We drifted through cenotes like dream creatures, shot underwater portraits, built strange and beautiful assemblages, and started a collaborative painting series we called Retro GoGo. Born from instinct, humor, heat, and play. There was no pressure to be profound—just a deep permission to be weird and free.

And maybe that’s why the Yucatán called me back. Not to revisit the past, but to reclaim the pieces of myself I’d left scattered like shells on a shoreline.

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