{"id":4426,"date":"2022-05-03T12:33:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/?p=4426"},"modified":"2022-05-03T12:33:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T16:33:10","slug":"the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Smooth Sides of Darkness” published @ The Fourth River"},"content":{"rendered":"

My 😍 agent (@juliestevensonpfarr<\/a>\u00a0) thought my book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0#ocean<\/a>\u00a0and I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0#essay<\/a>\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver<\/a>\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from, \u201cTHE SMOOTH SIDES OF DARKNESS.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u201cOne winter in India, I picked up the word bardo and put it in my pocket. There I thumbed the cold, smooth, stone\u2014turning it over and over in unidentified obsession. The word wasn\u2019t mine. I might have received it from a Lama\u2019s teaching in Bodhgaya, the small town whose fame rests in the shade of the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha once meditated. It\u2019s likely there the word bardo was born along with Buddhism, about six millennia before the birth of the guy we call Jesus. I put the word in my pocket because it was in the shape of something I couldn\u2019t otherwise name. I held onto it. Rubbing its smooth sides between my fingers, unclear as to my obsession for the term I was taught as meaning the state of existence between death and rebirth. Pema Khandro Rinpoche, a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachings focus on the coalescence of tradition and the modern context, takes the bardo a step further. She describes it as, \u201cmoments when gaps appear, interrupting the continuity that we otherwise project onto our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

A man I once loved said to me, \u201cThere\u2019s something about the way you leave.\u201d I had been looking for my socks under his bed. I popped up my head, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cYou know what it is? You never look back.\u201d<\/p>\n

I paused my hustle, tilted my head.<\/p>\n

He added teasingly, \u201cI would know, I\u2019ve watched you go enough times.\u201d<\/p>\n

I laughed a little too hard, tugged on my boots, deposited a kiss on his cheek, and ran out the door to catch my waiting taxi. But looking through my reflection in the window of the cab, I thought long about what he\u2019d said. About my ease in letting go. About my secret love for the breaks in continuity, for the liminal places between here and there, and what I find inbetween.<\/p>\n

Continue reading the full essay @ The Fourth River<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My 😍 agent (@juliestevensonpfarr\u00a0) thought my book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0#ocean\u00a0and I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0#essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[518],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n"The Smooth Sides of Darkness" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The Smooth Sides of Darkness" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Christina Rivera\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1204\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"The Smooth Sides of Darkness\\\" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1794403fadaa9fd4e8b3baadb19de3a3\"},\"description\":\"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png\",\"width\":1204,\"height\":1650,\"caption\":\"The Fourth River\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“The Smooth Sides of Darkness” published @ The Fourth River\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/\",\"name\":\"Christina Rivera\",\"description\":\"christina rivera \/\/ essayist & author \/\/ MY OCEANS @ NUPress Sp'25\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1794403fadaa9fd4e8b3baadb19de3a3\",\"name\":\"sol\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e1f34972c92752737d231fd7da774cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e1f34972c92752737d231fd7da774cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"sol\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.Solbeam.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/author\/crivera\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The Smooth Sides of Darkness\" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera","description":"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The Smooth Sides of Darkness\" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera","og_description":"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...","og_url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/","og_site_name":"Christina Rivera","article_published_time":"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1204,"height":1650,"url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"sol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"sol","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/","url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/","name":"\"The Smooth Sides of Darkness\" published @ The Fourth River - Christina Rivera","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png","datePublished":"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-03T16:33:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1794403fadaa9fd4e8b3baadb19de3a3"},"description":"My book was missing a chapter about the foundation of my love for the\u00a0ocean\u00a0and so I wrote this (soft, lyrical)\u00a0essay\u00a0in response. This week,\u00a0@thefourthriver\u00a0published the piece and I do believe the theme of their issue is the (untitled) answer to my agent\u2019s question: ISSUE 0.12: HOME...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-03-at-9.42.33-AM.png","width":1204,"height":1650,"caption":"The Fourth River"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/the-smooth-sides-of-darkness-published-the-fourth-river\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“The Smooth Sides of Darkness” published @ The Fourth River"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/","name":"Christina Rivera","description":"christina rivera \/\/ essayist & author \/\/ MY OCEANS @ NUPress Sp'25","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1794403fadaa9fd4e8b3baadb19de3a3","name":"sol","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e1f34972c92752737d231fd7da774cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e1f34972c92752737d231fd7da774cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"sol"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.Solbeam.com"],"url":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/author\/crivera\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4428,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4426\/revisions\/4428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seekingsol.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}