Once upon a time when I was young and felt the world was there for the taking, I dreamed of being an archeologist, I dreamed of digging up the past and learning the ways of those who lived so very long ago. It was a romantic notion, I know now… To backpack in places and countries far away, to see the treasure left behind by civilizations that have since disappeared. Those dreams were brought to me by movies and stories and tickled my imagination.

Then as I got older, I found my love of literature to be even stronger, the love for words and writing grew in me. I loved the newspaper, I grew up with the paper being delivered to the house each morning, watched my Daddy and grandfather read it from beginning to end. It held then, stories from all over the world. Stories that would be history, stories that would challenge my mind, feed my soul and make me see the world in a way that made me curious, fed my desire to know, to learn, to share. I then dreamed of being a Newspaper reporter, a journalist. I was editor of the high school paper and enrolled in college to follow that dream. But plans change as life all too often becomes filled with things we do not anticipate. Now the newspapers are all disappearing, journalism has become full of lies and propaganda, I did not imagine that.

I finally did make it to college, I studied and received a BA in English Literature and enjoyed every paper, every class, and every moment I was immersed in the learning and growing of my mind. I have also studied psychology with the intention to become a counselor but have been unable to finish that. It is my biggest regret, really my only one as I look back. I really wanted to help people that was my dream. To help and to share the stories of history, of survival, of topics I deemed interesting. But here I am, just an ole’ woman who lives in the woods, wishing she could do more, who spends her time trying to spread kindness, to hear those who need to be heard, to help those she can help and to stay sane in a world that seems to be tilting off its axis lately.

Now I write to soothe my inner voice, to empty my mind of the chaos, and in hopes that my words may help those that feel alone find they are not. In this dystopian world I would choose an alternative career path to be a teacher who helps adults find their way after life has gone off course for them. A counselor that could help those who are afraid find the strength to be what they want to be. I would be a advocate in a time when people are lost and need to find their way… I needed one of those and never found it… We need more of that ! But for today, I will just write a bit and then make my way into the world and try to be kind, to share a smile and a laugh. JUST BREATHING TODAY…