You are very kind, L.Y. Emotion is natural to me--I grew up in a fairly loving and expressive family--but this kind of writing has not come naturally to me. Women are my models for this kind of writing, both famous authors like Marilynne Robinson and Alice Munro, but also women here on Medium, who regularly write with vulnerability and insight and honesty. I want to write like that.

I have been married before, and my friend, the local storyteller, told me about the Selkies over lunch one day half a dozen years ago, in connection to my failing marriage. I had never heard it before, and it became part of me instantly. Sadly, it didn't help me see what was happening to my beloved in my recent relationship. Stories and analogies tend to help me make sense of things in retrospect, when I feel desperate for sense to be made, but they tend not to work proactively. For me, at least.

Thank you for reading and responding, my friend. I appreciate you.