SHIFT MAGAZINE Issue 2//Vol. 1

VOLUME 1 // ISSUE 2

SHIFT MAGAZINE

LOVE GAMES / THE ONLY HEAVEN I’LL BE SENT TO / SHADOWS OF YOU

FEBRUARY 2015

SHIFT

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MAGAZINE

MANAGING EDITOR Alex Holmes DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Zoha Momin DESIGN EDITOR Haley Fox

CONTENT EDITOR Melissa Freeland

PHOTO EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR

Paige Comrie

Lauren Guldan

EDITORS-AT-LARGE

SHEI SALES EDITOR Samantha Zwick

Sola Muno & Aaron Pelo

SHEI MARKETING EDITOR Shannon King SHEI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SHEI CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Anna Fuller

Mary Molepske

Our mission is to inform, inspire and engage deeply with the University of Michigan campus community at the intersection of student and professional life within the fashion industry. SHIFT is intended to provide a marketable media platform for students to push the boundaries of what has traditionally been possible within print without compromising the level of quality associated with the SHEI brand.

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L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I TO R

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE What is love? Biologically speaking, the feelings associated with the process of falling in love are triggered by a powerful cocktail of chemicals. Our brains bathe in the hormones that carry us to extreme highs and drop us to crushing lows.

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he result leaves us standing, palms sweating, heart racing, with butterflies careening every which way.

Suddenly you can’t think straight, you are dizzy with the promise of love. Withdrawal from these chemicals causes intense physiological changes, from overwhelming apathy to mood swings and depression. Love is, undeniably, a drug.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, some people fall hard under the rosy glow of the holiday while others wait patiently for their chance to take a sip of this chemical cocktail and explore the depths and highs of infatuation. It is this initial infatuation, and indeed obsession, that can lead to heartbreak leaving lovers only a shadow of their former self.

This February 14th, SHEI’s members explore some of the more obscure facets of all that we love to hate, from an addiction to all things Glitter to the complex history of the relationship African American women have with their hair in our feature article “Crown of Curls.” We take a detour through the softer side of Indie music in an interview with The Gravity Club, and delve into the changing power dynamics of the modern relationship. As we explored these themes, we came to realize the power of learning to look differently within ourselves and noticed the incredible potential to adjust and adapt our perspectives about people different from ourselves. This February, take the time to consider a new perspective and...

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CONTRIBUTORS

SHIFT MAGAZINE

SHEI MAGAZINE’S DIGITAL MINI

tasha lin

STYLING

raven o’rourke

caroline filips

amily yang

jessi chudler

lauren ayers

chidi bosah

zach whitford

amber lam

ilze vizulis

ash singh

carley gordon

morgan groendyk

paulina carvajal

hojo shin

elyse hovanesian

debbie cheng

LITERATURE kate heinz

catherine livingston

eleni mouzakis

alex rakestraw

kennedy clark merin mcdivitt

PHOTOGRAPHERS caleb bohn

lexie rechan

rachel beglin

gwen mckee

jasmine rubio

nor ain muhamad nor

DESIGN carolyn rodgers

tara lewis

danielle buffa

MODELS emily siegel

kyle beyer

nicole nahed

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jonah drane

zach whitford

olivia meszaros

gabe hanna

madeline surace

IN THIS ISSUE

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

ABOUT THE COVER:

Fashion + Video // This issue, we went back to everyone’s favorite place--the bedroom. Love isn’t always easy, but even then it’s always interesting. The Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To explores the idea of sensual love, whereas our music spotlight gets to the heart of what they love to do.

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LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

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CONTRIBUTORS

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MUSIC & CULTURE Local band The Gravity Club wants you to know them, and there’s a reason you should.

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STYLING What to wear to: a first date at the UMMA!

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RADAR: NINA BREWSTER Check in with the girl who’s creating her own clothing line one tube at a time. All that glytrs is gold.

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LOVE GAMES

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CROWN OF CURLS Crazy, curly, wonderful. An education on the rich history and multifaceted relationship that modern women have with Black hair

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THE ONLY HEAVEN I’LL BE SENT TO

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SHADOWS OF YOU

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M U S I C & C U LT U R E

At the Duderstadt Center on North Campus lies a well kept secret: a state of the art recording studio complete with top notch sound, a Steinway, and a mixing board that looks like the control panel from a 747 cockpit.

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n a Saturday evening, The Gravity Club is in the studio.

They shift carpets, fiddle with the pre-performance playlist, and tinker with the piano. They remove their shoes before entering the pristine studio. Cameras, lights, and mics are all being set up as the band’s members—Jake LeMond (Guitar/Vocals), Joe May (Saxophone), Avery Bruni (Violin), and Karl Heitman (Bass)—banter back and forth, poking fun at each other while preparing to record. The atmosphere is relaxed, but it’s clear that the members are in control and primed to play their Alt-Indie blend of catchy riffs, folk-pop, and jazz. Joe warbles away on the sax as Karl strums his guitar with a dime. “It’s more sizably comparative to my actual pick,” he said.

The band has a great chemistry that comes across in their music, which has a spontaneous, improvisatory quality on tracks like “Oh Sonya” and “Replace My Heart.” When they’re not riffing together, members call each other “babe” and take goofy photos for Karl’s “personal file,” trading stories and jokes.

It has been this way since The Gravity Club formed. The members had been in two separate bands previously, and after

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meeting at an open mic, they merged into what they jokingly call their “Supergroup.” “We had our first rehearsal and there was just this instant chemistry,” Jake said. Their personalities meshed, and even more than that, they complemented each other creatively. “We’re both like melodic and improvisational musical players,” Avery explained. “So we worked together really well off the bat.”

The band comes from a wide variety of musical backgrounds, reflected in the diversity of the artists that inspire them. From Karl’s love for Glen Hansard and Prince to the group’s admiration for Andrew Bird, the Civil Wars, and Typhoon, their taste is hard to pigeonhole. But first and foremost, the group answered together, laughing, “Each other.”

The Gravity Club does plenty outside of the band as well.

Avery is a talented dancer, Karl is a chef, Joe studies Political Science, and Jake is into the business side of the music industry. What they all share is a passion for music—for the exhilaration of live performances and the slow burn of low-key jam sessions. “We wanna make it with music,” Jake said. “If everything goes right, then in ten years we’ll still be doing this together.”

BY MERIN MCDIVITT

Empty Mug Records is an independent, student-run record label that aims to create a support network for local musicians and provide the means to distribute and promote creative works on the University of Michigan’s campus. Together with SHEI Magazine, EMR is looking to showcase exceptional local musicians and expose students the wide range of music talent available in their own backyard.

Click + Watch

Watch The Gravity Club perform “Oh Say Please”

Check out more music at: http:// www.soundcloud.com/thegravityclubmusic

“The following are the songs we listen to when love doesn’t work out quite as well as planned.” - The Gravity Club 1.

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Talking Backwards // Real Estate When u talk to bae but bae don’t wanna hear it.

I Was A Lover // TV On The Radio Much like Pat Benetar called love a battlefield, Tunde Adebimpe likens his relationship gone wrong to a war.

Ms. Jackson // Outkast It’s a classic, forever, forever-ever, forever-ever, and is perfect for when you’ve got more issues with friends and family of your new ex than your ex.

Before I Ever Met You // Banks Guys, she gives up the dog they trained together! That’s hardcore!

Never Meant // American Football Try as you might, sometimes you just fall out of love.

Cruel // Jessie Ware After an entire album about heartbreak, home-girl and soul songstress Jessie Ware realizes that it’s not just what you say, it’s what you do.

Someone Great // LCD Soundsystem Murphy puts into words the pain we all feel when we lose that really special person, and BONUS sets it to an undeniably catchy beat.

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Kettering // The Antlers Prefacing the decline of a relationship on a concept album that famously compares the decay of love to death. If you can listen to all of “Hospice” without shedding a tear, you’re probably heartless.

Knife // Grizzly Bear Heart wrenching lies and (figurative) knife wounds, dishonesty is super painful.

Rory // Foxing Unrequited love has never sounded quite so morose.

Stranger // Noah and the Whale The first steps of moving on just feel weird and bad.

Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx-Gold Digger Ahhhhhh 21st century romance at its finest!

Superat // Honeyblood Nothing is more cathartic than screaming “I will hate you forever.”

Only You (Demo Version) // Mac Demarco For the moment that you realize that even if it seemed perfect, it’s time to put your ice cream and your tissues away and start moving on.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together // T. Swift BE HAPPY CUZ YOU’RE DONE, SON.

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STYLING

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An all-the-way buttoned shirt in a discrete pattern gives the illusion of trying, but not too hard.

1. Black White Dot Classic Collegiate Shirt, Steven Alan; Available at TODAY Clothing. Dress up with a coat in an interesting cut that will take you into spring (and become her favorite) 2. Chore Jacket, Apolis Global Citizen; Available at TODAY Clothing. An indestructible notebookand-wallet-in-one will come in handy when the two of you start making a to do list for future dates. 3. cr signature Notebook Wallet; Available at TODAY Clothing and cr-brand.com. Pencils and a bigger notebook are imperative for a museum date, for sketching a sculpture, a painting, or maybe just her, looking at things. 4. Notebook; available at Shinola Detroit. Bring a hat because, hey, it’s winter and anyways she thinks you look quite cute in hats. 5. Mustard hat; Urban Outfitters. Capture moments on film for a fun developing date or surprise gift later. 6. Film camera, Nikon. Prep your lips in case the date goes well. 7. Lipbalm, Burt’s Bee’s. Dark chocolate with notes of raspberry and frosting is the perfect little treat to bring to a second date. 8. Marou Chocolate; available at Zingerman’s Delicatessen.

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W H AT T O W E A R : F I R S T D AT E AT T H E U M M A

WOMEN‘S 10

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Opt for a witty t-shirt, because intelligence and humor are always attractive.

1. Venus is Flawless t-shirt, Fly Art, www.rad.co. A little crossbody bag that fits all the essentials is convenient and simple. 2. Leather purse, Coach. A pressed floral phone case is a fun addition to any iPhone. 3. Pressed flower case, Etsy.com. Yes, he thinks you look adorable in your glasses, wear them. 4. Glasses, Warby Parker. Red lipstick packs a punch, and dresses up any outfit. 5. Colorburst Matte Balm, Revlon. Bring a little notebook, because handwritten notes are better than texting. 6. Notebook, available at Shinola Detroit. Keep a key to your favorite place around your neck for a personal touch. 7. Vintage key necklace, DIY. A leather jacket lends a Euro-chic vibe. 8.

Leather jacket, Zara. A sweet signature scent is something he’ll remember you by. 9. 3 L’Imperatrice Eau de Toilette, Dolce & Gabbana.

And in case you need to make a quick escape, wear your Nikes (they just so happen to be trending!) 10. Running shoes, Nike.

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RADAR NINA BREWSTER

ON (ASIAN MODEL’S NAME): WHITE JUMPER (TOP), JEANS (BOTTOMS), BLACK PUMPS (SHOES)

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ina Brewster is attempting to revolutionize glitter. If you see her on campus, she’s most likely wearing something simple, chic, and black. Her style doesn’t exactly exude the girly, over-the-top aesthetic that is typically synonymous with glitter, yet her clothing line, Glytr, is seeking to rebrand the youthful, hyper-feminine medium by utilizing it in an edgy, contemporary way.

Her idea was born last summer in Paris after she stumbled into an art store one afternoon and discovered sheets of ironon glitter. She was so giddy about this purchase that she spent the remainder of the day holed up in her hotel room, cutting out different shapes and “glitterizing” every article of clothing she had brought from home. “All I had to wear were these clothes that I had ruined with glitter designs,” Brewster admitted.

After reinventing her entire wardrobe, she began buying new articles of clothing to glitterize. She received especially positive feedback on a pair of white canvas sneakers she had bought just to deck out in H&M glitter nail polish. Soon the requests for personalized glitter apparel began pouring in, which prompted her to start selling customized pieces. “It was really informal

and I had no idea what I was doing, but people would buy it,” Brewster said. She was especially motivated by one of her mom’s close friends, who insisted that Brewster pursue this as an enterprise after designing a purse featuring glittered initials.

Her infatuation with glitter began last year through a photo series where she would photograph her subjects drenched in glitter. “I would pour glitter all over their faces,” Brewster said.

“That was very much an inspiration for the clothing I have made.”

Since her various waves of inspiration, Brewster’s line has evolved into a legitimate online business known as Glytr.

While the majority of her clientele consists of friends and UM students, she is beginning to receive orders from customers across the country.

Her website currently features sweatshirts depicting glitter emojis, slogans such as “Glitter is my Prozac,” and more.

During UM’s football season she also created personalized tailgate apparel.

Beyond single-handedly creating her own fashion line and manufacturing every piece by hand, Nina has also been 10

experimenting with making her own glitter from scratch to use in her pieces. “I grind up bits of car paint chips until they’re super small and still slightly metallic and then bake them in the oven,” Brewster said. “I want to use that glitter on all my clothing to give it a unique edge,” Brewster explained the process casually, as if everyone spends their free time contacting car companies in order to produce their own glitter.

Even in her more traditional, structured classes within the art school, Nina gravitates towards all things eccentric. In her fibers class last semester, she embroidered a screen print of herself depicting the slogan “Vote for Nina” with crystals, sequins and glittery tchotchkes. “My teacher didn’t like it that much, but it was my favorite thing I think I’ve done in the art school,” Brewster said with a laugh.

Nina’s artistic endeavors aren’t limited to the classroom. Unlike the average 19-year-old girl, Nina describes herself as being fairly removed from pop culture.

She has never been interested in TV, movies, or celebrities.

“I grew up having one TV in our basement and I was afraid of our basement so I didn’t watch TV,” Brewster said. “I don’t really pay attention to celebrities either. I don’t read magazines or have these idols that I love and follow.” She uses art as an escape during her downtime. When she’s not 11

sewing pieces for Glytr, she spends her free time working on a collection of selfie paintings that she has gathered from her friends. Her goal is to reach 100 selfie paintings and eventually show them in a gallery.

On the surface, it seems as though Nina has been born from the art world. Yet despite her creative disposition, she is actually the outlier in her family. Her parents work in business and finance, while her siblings both embody a more technical mindset—her brother and sister study math and science, respectively. Although she grew up in a left-brained household, Nina has always had a flair for the artistic, whether it was making paper jewelry for secretaries in preschool or doodling during class.

Nina took refuge in summers spent with her grandmother, who taught her how to use a sewing machine and how to embroider by hand. “I think she played a huge role in me becoming an artist,” Brewster said.

Her travels to cities across the world also played a formative role in inspiring her artistic pursuits. She reveled in the exposure to new cultures and the novelty of exotic and outlandish trends.

She remembers one particular trip to Tokyo, where she was struck by the avant-garde patterns, hairstyles, colors, and silhouettes that characterized their fashion industry.

“I would pour glitter all over their faces,” Brewster said. “That was very much an inspiration for the clothing I have made.”

“I was shopping with my grandma and I found these really weird shoes,” Brewster explained. “They were these white silk high top sneakers with a plastic pointed toe. I was in fifth grade at the time, so they didn’t have my size. But we bought them in a size bigger and I still wear them all the time.”

That trip to Tokyo would eventually shape her own sense of style, as well as the way she seeks to use a conventional medium in unconventional way with Glytr. Though her business is in the midst of taking off, she is still unsure of her future career aspirations. However, she is confident it will incorporate fashion and art in some capacity. She surmises that she will eventually gravitate more towards the photography side of the industry. “I am really attracted to studio photography and the role that it plays in fashion,” Brewster said.

But for now, she hopes to be known on campus for her expanding clothing line. “I am really focusing on that and how to expand it and manufacture it so that it’s not just me sitting in the art school sewing and doing everything myself,” Brewster said.

“I want to be known for having my own style.” BY LAUREN DIAMOND & NATALIE SHERER

TO SEE MORE OR TO PURCHASE NINA’S WORK, VISIT

NINABREWSTER.COM

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s e m a G o x eov xo

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Shoot Director: Tasha Lin Stylists: Raven O’Rourke, Amily Yang, Chidi Bosah, Ilze Vizulis, Paulina Carvajal Photographers: Caleb Bohn, Lexie Rechan Literary: Kate Heinz, Catherine Livingston Makeup artist/Hair: Chidi Bosah Models: Emily Siegel, Kyle Beyer, Jonah Drane, Gabe Hanna

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“Let me tell The man is

GONE GIRL Emily is wearing a Soprano dress from Nordstroms, and Marc Jacobs shoes.

Johan and Kyle are wearing Alfani, and Gabe is fronting in a Tommy Hilfiger vest and Banana Republic suit 15

l you somet hing, Toula ; s the head, but the wom a n is the nec she can tur k. n the head

any way she

wants.�

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PLAYING WITH YOUR FOOD Emily is wearing an Aqua dress, with shoes from Steve Madden 17

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EMILY IS WEARING A TEASE ME DRESS AND NECKLACE BY SOUTH MOON UNDER

? n a m e n o t s u j s d e e n o Wh

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INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

CHECK OUT INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION FEATURING SHINOLA DETROIT IN THE MOVEMENT ISSUE, WINTER 2014.

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TO ADVERTISE WITH US EMAIL: SALES@SHEIMAGAZINE.COM

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t is a proper noun with a capital B. It is characterized not only by its controversy, politicization, and versatility, but also by its very nature. And although it has been subject to public and personal scrutiny both inside and out of the black community, it is also an object of immense pride and celebration. Black hair exists as an extension of African American history and is a microcosmic biography of the black experience in the United States. But despite the presence of blacks on American soil for over three hundred years, their hair remains a tangible feature clouded in mythology. This intersection of history and mysticism has produced a complex relationship between hair and black individuals, which ranges on a spectrum from resentment to adoration.

The mythological nature of black hair dates back to the transatlantic slave trade. Hair enthusiast Bree Sullivan, a senior at the University of Michigan, agrees that even the history of black hair is layered in depth. “As we traveled for months during the Atlantic Slave Trade to get here, many African’s hair began to [dread]lock up during the voyage, which makes complete sense given its long neglect and the texture of our hair,” Sullivan explained. “When we arrived to America, the whites cut off all our hair, because it was seen as nasty, dirty, etc. Even during slavery, our hair was seen and talked about in such a way, not because it really was any of those things, but because it was different from theirs.” Sullivan points out that views like these were fixed in a kind of ignorance that was only supported by the hegemonic standards of beauty that championed white features as a superior form of elegance. As a result, African Americans who managed to achieve straighter hair were given a higher social status. After the abolishment of slavery, hair was regulated by society both on a social and institutional level. Even

today, certain black hairstyles are deemed unprofessional for the workplace and various other environments.

For the majority of African Americans, the pressures to alter the natural state of their hair coincide with an internalization of the idea that kinky hair is implicitly inferior while straight hair is implicitly superior. Thus the cultural hegemony’s perpetuation of ignorance produced fallacious and noxious convictions about black hair within the black community. As a result, black babies were born into families that taught them, in accordance with society’s sentiments, that their natural hair was in need of alteration in order to be accepted and perceived as beautiful.

These beliefs still exist and circulate within the black community today.

These conceptual notions produced tangible and material consequences. Today, large numbers of African Americans, especially women, are unfamiliar with the natural texture of their hair. They do not know how to properly care for or style their hair because they have chosen to bypass the opportunity to develop a relationship with its natural state. Instead, they have turned to perms, relaxers, weaves, extensions, and heat styling products in order to obtain curl-free hair. In communities where blacks represent a minority of the population, there are a disproportionately small number of black hair care salons, and an even smaller percentage of salons that actually cater to natural hair. A majority of magazines targeting women and adolescents offer hair care tips that are impractical or damaging for natural black hair.

Within media texts, African American women are rarely portrayed with natural hair; some of the most prominent black women in Western society alter the natural texture of their hair, promoting a false representation of generality. Hair

alterations regardless of race, are not innately a sign of selfloathing; however, within the black community, there is an overwhelming unconscious decision and compulsion to alter the curly and kinky nature of hair, usually in a way that more closely aligns with white beauty standards. These types of decisions are typically manifestations of the internalization of hegemonic beauty standards that predate the antebellum era.

Such deep-seated notions also produce fallacious assumptions regarding the nature and care of natural black hair.

The majority of websites and magazines with a target audience of African Americans publish articles addressing natural hair myths that are transmitted much like folklore within the black community. As a result, similar myths spread to outside the community, and black hair in its natural state, becomes fairly mythological. The mysticism is evident in the rather controversial and infamous question, “Can I touch your hair?” Social media is the source of a variety of mainly satirical videos that touch on situations that many blacks experience when in predominately white environments. The curiosity, whether positively or negatively intentioned, surrounding black hair is an illustration of the way black hair, especially in natural formation, appears both foreign and fictitious. In this way, it becomes necessary to have a 25

palpable interaction with it.

The 60’s and 70’s observed the largest resurgence of natural hairstyles as a result of the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements. During this time of social, institutional, and political discrimination, black hair in its natural state became a political symbol of rebellion. Such ideation produced the Black is Beautiful campaign that worked to endorse the natural beauty of African Americans. Thus, black hair was used as a subversive tool and reclamation of African American culture that was previously altered to appease non-blacks. These movements ultimately instilled a sense of values that had been displaced and distorted through the internalization of predominant standards of beauty.

Today, there is another surge of African Americans deciding to go natural after years of altering their hair. The individuals sporting natural hair have the largest network of support in African American history. Blogs, websites, Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, Twitter pages, and hashtags have created an online community of individuals who are embracing their natural hair and helping other blacks to do the same. Rather than a movement, it is a steady return, physically and psychologically, to literal roots. The big chop and t.w.a’s, an acronym for teenyweeny Afros, have become milestones in the “hairstory” of black

women across America. Hairstories are accounts of the stylistic transitions an individual has undergone. Thus it is in the wake of a lengthy and noxious history of oppression and prejudice that blacks are able take ownership of their natural hair. It has become a celebrated curliness that individuals are proud to claim, very near to a time when such kinks were visual manifestations of inferiority.

But transitioning to natural hair, or learning to take care of it independently, is a journey in itself. It is a decision that involves both mental and physical strength, as well as a spattering of positive and negative reactions from friends and family. Because texture ranges so vastly amongst African Americans, one person’s successful attempt at a Bantu knot could be a threehour endeavor that ends in failure for another. The products, styling tools, and processes are all factors that people must consider when doing their hair, and each factor influences the final results. Because the investment in one’s hair is of a temporal, energetic, and monetary nature, the development of a relationship is inevitable. Over time, doing one’s hair becomes an expression of self-love, and the challenges that accompany it are a part of what makes the journey fulfilling. There is a certain confidence and pride that is associated with individual creation.

Every black woman on the street, particularly with natural hair, is wearing her labor, her handiwork, and her history. Each time plastic teeth comb through tresses and shea butter massages the scalp, the celebratory nature of black hair continues to dismantle the deception and the myths that have persisted to taint its dignity.

The current resurgence of improved attitudes towards natural hair has created a plethora of acceptable appearances for black hair. It is this abundance of textures, colors, shapes, lengths, and sizes, across generations and genders, that reveals both the versatility and complexity of black hair. Black women can go from dreads to a small Afro, or from a bob to box braids all within a month. These styles are drastically different, yet all are displays of African American beauty. While the versatility of black hair surely leads to its mythical qualities, it also lends to its meritorious nature. It is a tangible expression of the endurance of black vitality in a nation where black experiences and cultural phenomena continue to be marginalized or appropriated.

Perhaps it is the only unifier, the only cultural symbol that African Americans have left to wield. And day-by-day, more blacks wake up and consciously acknowledge the beauty that their natural hair holds.

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IT’S OH SO QUIET

Although Valentine’s is over for the year, it’s always a good time to invest in quality lingerie, or simply a few sheer dresses.

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SHEI Magazine THE MOVEMENT ISSUE FALL 2014

shadows of you Shoot Director: Debbie Chang Stylists: Lauren Ayers, Amber Lam, Carley Gordon, Elyse Hovanesian, Morgan Groendy Photographers: Gwen McKee, Jasmine Rubio Literary: Eleni Mouzakis, Alexander Rakestraw Hair and Make-Up: Eleni Mouzakis, Lauren Ayers Model: Madeline Surcase 36

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ALONE WITH YOU

On Madeline: Orange sweater, available at Free People. On previous page: white blouse, available at Forever 21. Skirt (from Soprano), available at Nordstrom.

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They have parted ways, yet his shadow still resides.

She is surrounded by different shades and silhouettes, but feels the same emptiness. She still feels the laughter, the footsteps, even subtle breaths—very surreal. This feeling—his feeling—is a phantom at her core, tearing it to shreds. If she still feels that presence, is there really a need to move on? Cherish what’s left—hold it tight, lock it up, and keep it there for as long as it will stay. No day is truly different from the next. Today can mirror yesterday—with the right effort. A full face of makeup, hair in place, and happy prints—carry on as usual. Keep the head upright.

Let the eyes rest only if they become dry. Don’t make sudden movements. Keep your elbows off the table, hands folded. Drink the cup of coffee only after it has cooled. Ignore anything and everything that’s not directly in focus—let it dissolve into the backdrop. Hold the hand that may not even be there.

Smile only if the partner permits. Companionship is so much more than that physical being. It is a bond that transcends time, space, and even the course of events, no matter how delicate the bond.

The last, straining heartstring requires only one foul move for it to be cut. The next chapter is loneliness.

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So long and Goodnight . . .

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The Legends Issue coming april 2015