THE NARRATIVE ARC | PERSONAL ESSAY

The Beauty of a Clean Slate

A brief note on starting over

Shearwater Chronicles
The Narrative Arc
Published in
5 min readMay 12, 2024

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Sculpture by artist Anne Cécíle de Bretagne, small driftwood figurines walking towards an endless ladder on the other side of the room.
© LOS EFÍMEROS (Anne Cécíle Bizeul) by DELAFOI (Author)

“Maybe we should start making new things instead?” Anne Cecile’s eyes wandered across her newly installed artwork, carrying the same grief as someone letting go of a memory.

I was the last to arrive at her exhibition, something of an achievement by Majorcan standards, and Anne paused her final fiddling to meet me as I made it up the stairs. She was tired, as one is when feeling obliged instead of inspired. “Maybe we should throw away the old stuff and make something else?” she continued, and my eyes teared up.

Anne is French, living in Spain, with a talent for compact insights. She’s straightforward even in her native language, and down here, her three steps of translation add sharp edges to each sentence. No apologies, re-writes, or sugary decorations, just prophetic one-liners in a language that isn’t hers. It’s the perfect recipe for truth.

All the usual know-how and cocktail extraordinaire were in place, glass in hand, mingling up the ranks. Wine and chatter while trying to keep up with who to know, who to meet, and more importantly, who to introduce — and to whom. The world of free thinkers and creators has a surprising amount of rules.

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The Narrative Arc
The Narrative Arc

Published in The Narrative Arc

Medium’s best creative nonfiction — memoirs and personal essays. Welcoming writers from every walk of life.

Shearwater Chronicles
Shearwater Chronicles

Written by Shearwater Chronicles

Truths, lies, and other tales from an island in the middle of the sea by artist & writer Martin Wærn.