The first time I visited the Northern Forts in Latvia, the year was 2018, I stood at the edge of history.
And I saw myself.
The crumbling structures, half-sunken into the sea. The collapsed walls, broken and abandoned.
What was once a fortress was now being swallowed by the Baltic Sea.
I didn’t just see it.
I heard it in my head. It was a melody:
“I’m sinking MY fort into the sea.”
And I knew, without question, that this place was a reflection of my own life.
2018 was the hardest year. Divorce. Suicidal ideation. Days spent on the floor picking up broken pieces. 12 weeks of Grief Recovery. Packing up a bag and traveling…. And landing in Latvia. It all started to bring me back to life.
But standing at these ruins, I understood something: my fort needed to crumble. I needed to build on a stronger foundation. To rediscover myself. Fortify. Strengthen. This, by the way, is a lifelong journey and in no way have I arrived.
So a few years later, I sent my drone into the air to capture what I was seeing, an aerial view of ruins that held my story, and the story of so many others.
Then I walked through the forest into open fields and back into dense woods, seeing remnants of war everywhere. I saw it so clearly. Me with a crew, filming something.
I told my dear Latvian friend: “I’m gonna film something here someday.”
I labored over a story for years. And on my last visit to Latvia, I let it go. I gave it back. As if it wasn’t for me to have.
During Thanksgiving 2025, I pitched a seed of an idea to friends. They encouraged me to develop it.
On New Years Eve, I managed to write an outline for a feature film. And have been tweaking the story ever since.
Last week, I extracted a short film idea from that outline, which was not easy, and wrote the script for the short. Writing the script was easier.
If I told you how everything has been falling into place in the last couple weeks, your jaw would hit the floor.
This short film is called RU-7.
It’s my love letter to the land and the people who helped me sink my fort into the sea.
A beautiful crew is starting to form. I’ll be sharing more soon, about the process, and what it’s like to bring something you’ve carried for years into the world.
That being said…
For this month’s piece of music, I’m sharing a doodle. A sketch. I’m in pre-production now, and part of that work is finding the sound of this world. What does RU-7 sound like? What does the coastline feel like in music? What does loss, and rebuilding, and hope sound like when it’s in a sci-fi world rooted in a very real place?
This piece is my attempt at a draft. An exploration. I’m not sure if it’ll make it into the final score, but it’s part of the process and I wanted you to hear it.
Because that’s what this newsletter is: me taking you along the journey.
🎧 Headphones recommended.
If you’re skilled in any aspect of film production and want to be part of this, visit isaagape.com/ru7 and send me a message. Auditions coming soon.
What's something you've been holding onto for years that might need to be let go before it can come back to you? I'd love to hear. Drop a comment below.
