To all who celebrate, happy Thanksgiving Day. Don’t get me wrong, I will never condone the mass slaughter of turkeys. And I have a hard time standing behind the history from which the tradition was born. But I appreciate this day for its reminder that we should consider and declare what we are grateful for.
For a couple of years, it was really hard for me to do that. But alas, I am feeling gratefulness in my heart yet again. Thank you. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for caring.
I am grateful to this site. It may not be the most wildly popular travel blog, but it’s mine. It’s given me goals to reach and things to focus on at moments when I’ve needed structure and reason. It’s been a source of new beautiful friendships, and an occasional rekindling of old ones.
And for those of you who worry, thank you for that too (But, I’m really ok).
For anyone curious about what I am up to these days while my global wanderings are on hold, wonder no more.
- I am writing.
- I am working on this silly blog, which I hope is of occasional use, entertainment, or at the very least an outlet for procrastination to you.
- I have begun working on a memoir about my journey through loss, heartbreak and adventure.
- I am learning.
- I continue to practice Spanish everyday. I am working on building my vocabulary and gaining a better grasp on past and future tenses of speech. I hope to eventually have complete fluency.
- I am talking to authors and journalists and reading about effective creative writing.
- I am trying to learn ways to increase visibility and search-ability of this here webpage.
- I am creating (aside from writing)
- I am sorting and editing thousands (seriously, thousands) of photos and video clips to create the most beautiful images and entertaining snippets I can muster.
- I am considering future photography projects with a new, better camera 🙂
- In my sketchbook, I am illustrating a poem I wrote 12 years ago, in hopes of someday creating a children’s book.
- I started a beadwork project using the peyote stictch – an artform I fell in love with as a teenager and have not worked in for many years
- I am working on some graphic design projects as a refresher to skills that I have not used in a couple of years.
- I am planning
- Yes, more travels are in my future. Whether you are in the “Go you, yay!” school of thinking, or the “Enough already, let’s settle down.” school… I will be running around through at least March. New York, Michigan, Florida, Bolivia, Argentina, Utah, and California are all approaching in the next 3 months.
- I am trying to decide if I will keep or let go of my NY apartment. I have not yet come to my final conclusion. Yes, I am considering what will happen in March. No I cannot give you any more answers. For now, I am comfortable with that. You should be too. 🙂
- I am trying to obtain better health
- I am in the process of changing insulin types, which is always a rocky transition that takes time to even out.
- I am lowering my carb intake and increasing my vitamin intake.
- I am exercising (though I need to be better about it).
- I am researching
- I have been researching outlets where I can submit my essays (travel or otherwise) for publication.
- I have been researching outlets for submitting my photography that I am most proud of as well.
- While I have found places for both categories, I am still hesitant because I don’t know how reputable the sources are. If any of you knows of anything, please send suggestions 🙂
Amazingly, I feel that my days have been quite filled recently. I am not bored, and I do not feel like I have nothing to do. In fact, if there were more hours of the day I would add a couple more dream projects to this list. I miss traveling, but am grateful to have a little breather time to do my work and release all the things in my head into writing and art.
My projects are all long-term, hopefully I will follow through on all of them in good time. But I am not trying to rush anything (including this blog, which is quite behind).
Thanks all, for sticking with me! Much love. Stay grateful.
Here is a poem I wrote recently. My plan is to weave its pieces into my memoir (maybe). It rhymes. My poems always rhyme; you have my mother to thank for that.
