body wisdom — Finding Hiraeth

Cartoon of a woman comparing two books — a joyful scrapbook labeled The Good Trip with sketches of mountains, castles, and gelato, and a gray binder labeled Incident Log listing Load Signaling, Fluid Security, GI Local 002, Vestibular Affairs, and Small Fiber Postal — while a red doodle dog in an Auditor cap reviews the binder with a magnifying glass beside a note reading Patterns Don't Lie

An Organism Abroad: Two Trip Reports, One Traveler

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

I took one trip this June. I came home with two trip reports — mine, and my body’s incident log. The season finale, in which all five departments discover they were writing the same memo.

Cartoon of a body's internal mail room with pneumatic tubes labeled Skin Press Cleanup, Gut Back From Strike, and Ankles Liquidation all marked Out of Order, a dispatcher holding an envelope reading Urgent Reduce Load, a clerk holding a sign reading The Courier Is Not the Message, a tiny nerve courier with a bicycle beside a sign reading Last Open Route Between the Toes, and a red doodle dog in a Signals Inspector cap examining the toe mail slot

The Courier: My Nervous System Delivers Mail to the Worst Possible Address

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

An itch that ignores the obvious treatment isn’t a treatment failure — it’s a redirect. A field report on toe-mail, wrong tickets, and reading the letter instead of blaming the address.

Cartoon of a frazzled dispatch clerk in the Load Signaling Department holding a sign reading The Skin Is Not Being Dramatic, beside a switchboard with lights labeled Heat, Sweat, and Sealed, while a printing press labeled Publish to Surface prints a complaint report checklist ending in Unfair, and a red doodle dog naps wearing a tag reading Sun's Out Naps On

Unit: SKIN — The Department That Publishes

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

The heart complains internally. The gut complains to management. The skin publishes — front page, full color, font size WELT. A field report on hives, greenhouses, and reading the signal instead of shooting the messenger.

Cartoon of an anxious hormone middle manager named Aldosterone standing on a desk holding a memo reading Air Is Thin, while kidney workers hold a sign reading The Ankles Are Not a Warehouse and a red doodle dog drives a forklift labeled Forks of Fate toward the Ankle District

The Cankles Accord: A Hostage Negotiation at 10,000 Feet

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

I was having a transcendent moment in the Alps. My ankles were being converted into a regional distribution center. A field report on fluid logistics and flawless bodily logic.

Cartoon of an intake desk clerk stamping Rerouted on a package labeled Sleep while holding a sign reading Your Manual Is Not My Manual, as a dejected pill in a suit watches and a red doodle dog sleeps on a mail cart tagged One Nap

The Benadryl Paradox: When Your Body Reads the Label and Laughs

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

The label said drowsy. My body handed it an espresso and a to-do list. A field report on paradoxical responses and the sanctity of an n of one.

Cartoon of a stern stomach professor at a chalkboard reading Unit One: Fullness, holding a sign that says The Plate Is Not a Legal Authority, while a woman sits at a student desk and a red doodle dog lies unbothered nearby

My Gut Bacteria Are Better Somatic Practitioners Than Anyone I Ever Paid

July 16, 2026July 17, 2026
Somatic Field Reports

Fifty years of professionals tried to get me into my body. A stomach bug did it in four days — no consent form, no sliding scale, no dimmer switch.