August 8, 2026
Dear friends:
Ooh something new. It was taking time to show its shape but now, here it is.
enter the wild lands
There's a place in the body where no one
is welcome except your own voice.
A sovereign space.
A rogue state that has ceded from the union -
so long, uncle sam!
A space where no one is welcome,
not even angels bearing chocolate
or spirit animals.
"Please leave your spirit animals at the door."
The walls of this place are made of 118 elements
from the periodic table plus anger or fire.
In this sovereign space,
there is something that cannot be broken
or shaken
or stirred (ice on the side dahhhling)
It will not yield to the most caring,
to the most kind,
to the most anyone else who is not
y
o
u
And even as it is you,
it is also beyond you
and not you.
Sometimes, it feels like someone else has the key,
which sucks when you are running through the door
after you've been driving for five hours and
you need to peeeee,
what I call a banshee wail of an urge
you gotta go you gotta go.
It's a mysterious place.
Access to it keeps disappearing.
The password keeps changing
You never know whether you're going to get in.
And when you get in,
you never know how long the space
is going to be open
before you have to get back out
and deal with the laundry
or the rest of your life
— whichever comes first.
This place is sacrosanct -
from the Latin root "sanctuary"
a definition I am making up right now.
No one else may enter.
You get to hold everyone at bay.
you
shall
not
pass
— like the wizard at the bridge
the staff thrown down into the void
and even as you mourn his falling
you tremble at the force of his NO
resounding across the dark.
The more you grow this place,
where no one can enter
the more you grow your capacity
to embrace
every thing
in this world of being and unbeing
even that so-and-so-you can’t stand
who sets you teeth on edge!
it powers your capacity for
openness and generosity
even as it defines your borders
I want to invite you into a journey
where we seek this place in us,
one by one, together.
very imperfectly, the journey is called
Enter the Wild Lands
a four month creative journey
in writing and movement
to embody the animal
awakening to its own
particularity
its own scent.
a spoken
sung
broken
still
trill
anthem of the animal coming alive
ENTER THE WILD LANDS
A four-month online creative circle
September–December 2026
Sense. Write. Move. Listen. Express.
Out loud. In silence. In community.
Together, we will trust what emerges and witness what awakens.
- we write to awaken muscles that have been silent
- we move to let the body speak
- we make sounds to awaken sense and nonsense
- we embrace mystery and
- we get clear about our next true step in this whirly world
- and ladies and gentleman, caballeros y damas, one by one all together
- we step
[krupiya, mind the gap]
facilitated by Shebana Coelho, performance artist, writer
WHEN & WHERE
We gather twice each month on Zoom,
on the 13th and 26th in September and October
and the 13th and 20th in November and December
at 10:00 am US Mountain Time.
Each gathering is 70 minutes.
First gathering will be September 13
13th of each month — We create from the unknown. We write, move, sense, make sounds, and follow what wants to emerge.
26th/20th of each month — We share what we have written and embodied. We listen. We bear witness for each other.
Eight live gatherings.
Recordings available for a limited time after each session.
Then, they disappear into the ether.
RATE
I am as Spontaneous as a Solar Flare Rate available through the solar eclipse August 12: $195
Regular Rate from August 13 onwards: $255
If cost is the only thing keeping you away, write to me.
We'll find a way.
info@shebancoelho.com
READY SET WILD
If you're ready to step into the wild unknown…
zelle: writeoutloud13@gmail.com
paypal: shebana@gmail.com (send to a friend)
venmo @Shebana-Coelho
Once I receive your payment, I'll send you a confirmation email with everything you need to begin.
You are most welcome to share the Wild Lands with other souls who may resonate. You can find the invitation here if you'd like to pass it along.
https://www.shebanacoelho.com/events/wildlands
Oh for SINEW
Oh—and Sinew, an online performance, is coming up on Tuesday August 18. another animal offering.
RSVP here,
adelante con arte, my friends.
in solidarity
Shebana
