Where do you even begin....

 :: Where do you even begin::

     When you live in a rural area, you notice how our lives mimic the natural world. I learned that allowing the ground to lay fallow for years is the best remedy for the earth. It will enable the soil to mellow and nutrients to return. When you do plant tiny seeds, they will eventually flourish. This blog is my land. It has been so long since I have sat in front of my computer and written anything in this space. I thought about abandoning it in place, but it is hard to let go of things you poured so much time and effort into over the years. This space brought me so much happiness years ago. So, I am slowly turning over the soil here in this space and planting new seeds. Or maybe I am more like the mother Robin who has been building a nest in our front yard. One twig and piece of grass at a time. Preparation for something new. 

 

    Here is where I begin one turn of the shovel or one more twig in the nest. A lot has changed since I last wrote here. Nothing exciting or earth-shaking, just the slow ticking of time. Our children are older, my husband and I are older, and we are settled into the calm rhythms of family life. I watch my once little children grow into beautiful, kind, and conscientious young people who have so many dreams. I am learning that turning 40 next year won't be as scary as it sounds. I am finished my Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing. I have 100 pages of written material. Short essays of creative non-fiction awaiting the red pen of re-editing one last time before being sent off into the publishing world. I have a 70 pages detailed outline and a first chapter of fiction work written. And, after what feels like a million years, I have an Etsy shop loaded with sewn goods. It feels like a lot, but it isn't; it has just been preparation for something new. I am learning that having a career is not the same as having a job. I am learning to embrace what life lays down before me by preparing something new experiences to flourish and for life to continue beautifully in unexpected ways. 

So, I begin by returning to this empty space and cultivating new life by planting seeds and building a nest of insightful words and shared experiences. It is nice to come back to where it all began. 

I hope that you will enjoy what is to come in this space.