I looked around my small apartment, also full of bones, fungi, shells, flowers, feathers, and stones. Like the bowerbirds, I had carefully collected these things and arranged them with intention. Visitors often asked about the governing principles behind this assortment of stuff. All I could say was that, though I am clean and dislike clutter, I need my space to feel like a nest. I collect things that feel like gifts, imbued with a little extra magic. I study how they affect the energy of a space and I orient them accordingly. In all the moving and change I’ve experienced in my life, these
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