On Wandering & Staying Put

Committing oneself to adventure and living life on one’s own terms almost requires that the unexpected is to be expected. The plans that one has for themselves are frequently found to be tossed into the wind, with Fate taking, rearranging, and replacing the pieces at will. It necessitates a need for internal calm and adaptability, for stubbornly trying to adhere to that which can no longer work will only make one miserably frustrated. That sort of stress, while to be expected on some occasion, will cripple an adventure and leave one questioning all the choices they’ve made, stretching back through the years to before the adventure ever began. That, for what I hope are obvious reasons, accomplishes nothing but to further one’s misery and prevent one from rising up, pushing through the current challenge, and continuing forward with a life heralded by freedom.

It’s been months since I’ve blogged. My family’s adventure has taken new turns and, as often can be the case, we were not prepared for these turns. The adventure proceeds as planned, in a very general sense, yet, for now, our traveling is on pause.

There is a gorgeous creek here, with large deciduous trees, mule deer and javelinas roaming about, and vultures overhead. It’s a calm spot, a quiet spot, in a sleepy little town buried in the mountains and forgotten by the rest of the world. It’s a good spot to rest, to plan, and to write so very, very many things.
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That writing is a primary focus for me now. Many things are coming together right now, from divinatory readings to whispers from Gods and spirits alike to a general sense of Universal pushing, to say that this is what I need to be doing right now. So… I am.

That means that I’m finally making due on a major side project that my husband and I have talked about for about two years and worked on (off and on) for the last eight or nine months. For the past few years, I’ve worked as a freelance writer, writing mostly copy and content for small business owners and occasional ebooks. It’s good work but not nearly as satisfying (nor profitable) as writing for oneself. To that end, and with the help of everyone who’s chosen to support me through patreon, I’ve scaled back on clients and have been committing most of my time to writing a number of books under a pen name. (The first of those books was just released this past Monday; this is my ecstatic face.) It’s long-term work, but good work that will make the difference in my family’s adaptability to life’s toss ups of our plans; it enables us to adventure that much harder in the future (and that is something to which I look forward and will absolutely work toward,) and it’s work that enables me to write more (and more consistently) for the Pagan and witch communities,* which is something that I have strong personal need to do (and a few projects in the works -primarily an ebook, on warding coming out soon-ish, and a full length work, that I will only say focuses on witchcraft.)

This is something that has been weighing on my mind a lot lately as community building and strengthening are subjects I feel strongly about. Given my wandering ways, I’m not sure what I can contribute to such other than through my writing and choosing to have deep conversations on hard topics with others, but these are things I will do earnestly. **

Recovering from a recent toss up of plans has been proving more difficult than first thought, and is part of the reason why my family and I will be remaining in this almost ghost town for (likely) the summer. But it is a very, very good place to write. We’ve befriended a local artist who has taken a real liking to the children and brings them new art projects to do each week. This small town, not more than a retirement community, has responded favorably to our presence, showing genuine excitement that there are children in the town again. And there have been none too subtle comments about how this would be a wonderful area for us to homestead, should we decide to stop traveling for good.

For now, we are content to linger by the creek, to dream in the shade of the cottonwoods, to wander through the town, and to empty the library of stacks of books each week. This is a good place to be, a safe place to be, while my family and I gather resources for the long-term and for a future return to traveling and adventures.
 
*To that end, expect a new article soon-ish. Over on patreon, there is a monthly vote on a topic for me to write about, with patrons input framing the article. The topic chosen for this month is Simple Ways to Achieve Altered States. Patrons will get early access to the article but it will be posted here probably next week (I’m hoping to get it finished before Wednesday’s Dark Moon Newsletter goes out.)
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**If these are things that are important to you and you want to have those deep conversations, too, feel free to leave a comment, contact me, or stalk me over on twitter. I truly believe it is these conversations that help us to grow as a community, as we forge new relationships, broaden our perspectives, and inspire each other to strive for greater integrity in thought and deed. If you don’t feel necessarily called to have those conversations with me, I strongly encourage you to still have them. Seek out these conversations with the people nearest you, with those you know online, whomever, just have those deep conversations.