Beginnings: Where I'm Going (Part 2)

My 2026 word: Process 

• (n) a series of actions taken to achieve a particular end 
• (v) to come to understand over the course of a period of time

My 2026 tarot card: the Empress

• represents the power of divine feminine magic and self expression
• a charged period of intuition, exploration, and creativity

This year I will get lost in the messy, creative writing process. Much like in 2016, I am in a rare moment in my life where I have the time and energy and space to do this. I will not let this opportunity slip away. I will stand tall like an antennae reaching for the stars and drink in stories and inspiration and weave them into magic on the page. 

The moment we returned from Japan, I hit the ground running. I started a new linked story collection (a novel in stories) and have already submitted the first one to my agent. I also started a series of sleep stories that my amazing friend is recording, and I am in the icky, complicated process of ripping apart my half completed second novel and reworking it so that it falls into a more natural state, one that better suits my style. 

This is my year of no distractions, only completions. 

And in order for this to work, I need to pull back, to pause a few things in my life. And one of them will be updating this blog. In 2016, it was a priority. It no longer is. And though I have slowed down over the years, I wasn't ready to officially stop. 

This isn't the end. It is only a long, indefinite pause. I may return in 6 months time, or a year, or two. I don't know. Nor do I know what form it will take. All I know for sure is that I want to have far more to offer and share than I do now in the form of more published stories and essays (and hopefully my first novel will be out in the world). It takes a certain kind of energy to keep a blog going, energy that I can better utilize elsewhere at this time. And so I will take all my energy and put it into refining and finishing bigger projects in order for that to happen.

I look forward to posting again once I gain momentum and have more to share 🌠 What is your word of the year? What energy do you want to carry forward into this year and beyond?

Endings: Where I've Been (Part 1)

On Christmas Eve we took an overnight flight to Kansai, Japan then hopped on the train to Kyoto as the sun rose. We were in our rented house on the edge of Higashiyama by early afternoon. The air was crisp and cold and clean. The streets were silent. A calmness permeated everything. And I knew without a doubt that this was the end of an era and beginning of a new way of existing. An unnamable spark that tasted like magic and dissolved the jagged edges that had fallen like knives around me over the past several years. And in a single moment, I severed every perception I had absorbed from the world around me and drank in dreams. 

During the last week of December as we explored temples, walked the philosopher's path, and soaked in countryside hot springs, I began think about these final posts. How could I possibly sum up ten years worth of travel and life experiences? When I began to think back, what happened quite surprised me. As each year flooded through me, they began to condense and distill into something like an essence, an energy, a single word. If there's not a word for this experience, there really should be.

• 2016: Leap
• 2017: Stay
• 2018: Community
• 2019: Expand
• 2020: Isolation
• 2021: Reconnect
• 2022: Surrender
• 2023: Hope
• 2024: Collapse
• 2025: Resilience 

I don't need to summarize or recount each year. There are 100+ posts full 100+ reasons why these words resonate. And they are there for anyone to dive into and read. 

Back when I lived in Santa Cruz, California, I kept an online journal that I started the month I moved there (January 2004) and ended the month I left (December 2015)—twelve years worth of entries that encapsulate those years. The only difference here is an energetic one, not a physical one. I'm not moving, but my energy has shifted in ways I cannot ignore. 

This blog began as a travel log of sorts to capture my leap of faith, to follow my curiosity and see where it would take me. I quit my job, I got rid of everything that wouldn't fit into my car, and I flew across the world to travel through India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia. It has been a fun exploration of travel, books, and musings. But now it is time to start a long, indefinite pause and redirect my energy. 

So, what next? I will explore this question in Part 2. But until then...

Here's a challenge: Can you distill your past ten years into ten words—words that encompass each year down to its essence? Tell me about what you learn from this practice of self-reflection.