Life Counts as a Journey

Life counts as a journey, no matter where you are. As this is the case, I'm feeling pretty comfortable continuing with the Journey Journal theme and bringing it back full circle.

Full circle means I'm back where I started a few years ago, living with mom and helping her pay her mortgage while I save my dollars (which it's so nice to be earning again) to accomplish a goal or two. I need to figure out the best goal to aim for at this point in my life: do I buy a house (or condo) so that I have my own place for me and my brood of animals or do I go back to school and save up for an externship to become a imaging tech of some kind? It feels so nice to be earning money again but the current housing market around the Northwest Region of the US is pretty impossible to get into without some major dough. Hence the "what do I want to be when I grow up" speak at almost 40 years old. (EGAD)

There have been some changes in the years since I began this journal. I'm older and wiser, of course. I'm healthier and feel better in my body and with my body. I made many friends and had many adventures and got really poor and got really rich in experiences and I'm so glad to be home and around my loves and I'm actually going to publish my book this year. Yes, this year. I've got an artist working on the cover, I've got a plan, I've got the wherewithal to get this done. Hurray!

And writing is something I miss. Something that I've put down for other pursuits, something that whispers at the back of my mind when I listen to a certain song or look at a certain sky filled with stars or think about the world I inhabit. I need to create and breathe in the wonder and imagination that have been dormant for too long. I need to feel and touch and smile and laugh at the images in my head that need to be conveyed to the page. I'm a storyteller. I need to tell my stories.

And maybe people will like those stories. Maybe they'll want more. And that, ladies and gentleman and everyone in between, is the dream. Let me share what is in my head, what whispers to me in the dark, what twirls through my mind. Let's dance together.

So. Here I am, many months since my last post, reaching out my hand to all of you to once again try this journey of life with me. It's been bumpy and frustrating and hilarious. It's been filled with people and laughter and lonely and sad. It's all the things that make it a journey.

Thank you, and may your day bring you smiles even in the rain.

Peace.

Shanti Elena Hoffman