There is a spirit in the landscape that possesses us, and though we may leave the land behind that spirit will always follow. This is something I learned during my formative years living in rural New Mexico, through the stories we shared. From ancient times of the Navajo and Hopi people to a more modern era, of crime, miracles, unexplainable phenomena, and shapeshifting beasts that roam the high desert, there is an inseparable memory attached to the land.
As time passes these stories turn to myth. And though new memories occur and often replace the past, they add to the growing history indexical to the land.
It was during those years I experienced the power in oral tradition that gave the landscape its meaning and presence. Though I have long since left the desert of New Mexico, I carry the spirit of its storytelling and land-specific memory in my practice today.
