Breathe

Corey Taylor’s words “An epidemic of the mannequins, contaminating everything” hum through my head as I scroll through LinkedIn today. With a mix of narcissism and self-doubt I click on my profile picture for the thousandth time this week. The cover image resting at the top is the only window on this sickening platform where I’m allowed to breathe.

The crashing waves at Barinatxe beach, also known as “La Salvaje”, “The Savage”, or “The Wild”, draw a line between Sopela and the Atlantic Ocean. The sky and the sea, ever-cloudy in Euskadi, extend to the horizon, neither of them competing for attention.

I remember taking this picture with my drone back in 2022, on one of those afternoons we’d spend skating the Basque coast with my not-yet wife. When we stopped to rest, I’d send my DJI Mini SE up and watch us become smaller, as the ocean kept taking up more space on the screen in my hands. Small dots of other skaters on land; small dots of surfers riding the never-resting waves, reaching for the still sand.

I can still feel the sea breeze.