Mer is Meredith Yayanos, a.k.a. Mer, or Theremina. They’re a composer, an editor of prose and journalism, a multimedia storyteller, and the creator and director of the haunted chamber music project The Parlour Trick. Mer was chin deep, for years, in other stuff that’s thornier to discuss, but those of you who know… Well. You know. Always on the move. Rarely making a stable living wage. Never anywhere close to fully free, healthy, or present. Eventually, they burned out. Mentally, physically, spiritually, you name it. That’s something they’re sure plenty of fellow fringe-living freelancers and activists can relate to. For the past few years they’ve been mostly holed up with generous family and friends, far removed from the cities they once worked, performed, and fought some career and social life-destroying countercultural battles in. Maybe, someday, they’ll find a safe and compassionate way to make some art about it. For now, they’re focused on the present moment, and what it feels like to live in a state of increasingly integrated peace. When they open their eyes in the morning, they’re astonished to be alive and finding their way to a place of light and balance after a very full but fractured forty-four years of life out on the ragged, bleeding edges of things. Sometimes it feels like they’re waking up, joyfully, just in time to watch the world end. They’re certain at least a few people reading this can relate to that as well. Interesting times, you know? In any case, there’s more space and peace in their body and mind every day. The deeper their healing, the clearer their vision for more compassionate and playful paths onward. They’re excited to discuss that massive shift in neuroplasticity here with anyone who’d care to share notes! Additionally, as their health continues to steadily improve, they’ve returned with renewed gladness to modes of creative expression they
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