2024

January 1st 2024 found me sitting on a bench by a creek in the early morning. The sun, also awake, yearning to peak through the dense evergreen trees.  The majestic rays were splendid.

The air was crisp and my five layers of clothing were working hard at doing their job. Hiking boots on, I felt prepared. Pen and journal in hand, I felt intentional.

hiking boots sketch for Inktober, icon research for a map I am illustrating

What do I want? I wrote,  I have asked and answered that question so many times in the last couple of years.

This year I want to walk in faith, to continue embracing all of me, to keep working on being open to receive. I want to pay attention to my life. And to embrace these I know I need quiet time, communal time, and celebrations.
Like the creek, I want to be constant, create my path, make noise unapologetically, work where I flow, lean into my powers. Be real, let things that don’t serve me pass, and to be inspired and inspire.

That is a long list that would have made me throw a blanket over my head and hide. Yet, I was filled with hope that morning; knowing I could take the time to sit, to think, and pause, and to enjoy what was in front of me.
In the stillness of that moment, I remembered getting a handout in elementary school. It was a long legal size, typewriter written, construction paper, with the title “Carta de un Hijo a todos los Padres del Mundo” (Letter from a Child to all the Parents in the World). And I remembered how each line spoke what I wished I could shout; I memorized it, re-wrote it and I hanged it on my door, in hopes that my dad would read it…

It all came full circle that day. Letters, words, and art have given a voice and shape to express many of my feelings and thoughts -- before I could define them myself. That is what I hope to give.
I create with the purpose to make sense of experiences, something  that says ‘I’ve got you’, an image or pretty words that bring comfort, that understand, that encourage, that help remember the goodness that is always there even in the gray before the full dawn. So, in this new year, I keep trying to refine my skills, to evoke words (borrowed or new), and to reimagined the sign I hanged at my door.

Take a moment and think of some words or an experience that have shaped your life in a positive way. I would love to hear about it.

And I know I would’ve been curious about the letter I talked about, thanks internet, I found it! (re-wrote it, and translated it for you) here you can read it.

Carta de un Niño a Todos los Padres del Mundo - Letter From a Child to All the Parents in the World