We are living in a zeitgeist consumed by catastrophe. The Ghost Ship confronts our past regrets and fears of the future. It celebrates the power of collective thinking, freedom of choice, and the only reality we have; now.

A rebellious troupe of circus girls turn the unknown into action, sailing through an imagined apocalypse, aboard a traveling circus pirate ship. Like the performers of Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven,” entertainment becomes their survival and an act of service. In this modern world the “circus” has become mostly metaphorical, housing the ultimate tragic fool: the performative clown, exposed to shame and ridicule as crowds gather to laugh at each metaphorical public execution. Yet “All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare wrote, “And all the men and women merely players.” So is it not true- our lives are always performative? We dress, create, entertain, love, serve and even if subconscious we choose how we present ourselves to one another. There is beauty in that performance because it is human. Freedom lies not in escaping the stage, but embracing it. Free from the shackles of judgment, beauty ideals and control, we can transform catastrophe into creative freedom: dress freely, be in on the joke, stand by our choices without regret, and perform with absolute abandon.

Storytelling is what makes us human. Across centuries, from Shakespeare to The Fifth Element to Cheryl Strayed, we tell and retell our fears, hopes and questions. This collection is my story.

As Cheryl Strayed writes in her essay “The Ghost Ship”:

“I’ll never know, and neither will you, of the life you don’t choose. We’ll only know that whatever that sister life was, it was important and beautiful and not ours. It was the ghost ship that didn’t carry us. There’s nothing to do but salute it from the shore.”