22 Days Are the Best Days & Wizard Turns 2!!

Freshly groomed and happy to romp at the beach

It feels so great to have a platform where my words can land and stick organically. As I look over many of my previous works--whether through blogs for others, essays for magazine publications, or even short stories for a travel app--I can't help but wonder if my glory days of writing are behind me. I began this writing journey in 2012, more so for my efforts to crack the code on storytelling and help others with inspirational pieces that spoke to me at that time.

It worked and I loved it. I was churning out blog after blog, authoring book after book, researching and editing, and writing almost 50 stories per month for the Autio travel app, and finally, dabbling in journalistic pieces that were relevant at the time. All of it mattered, and all of it made me more whole. I'm beyond grateful for the opportunity to be part of something greater than myself; that's how I viewed the writing world I was involved in for over 12 years.

Then AI took over. Ugh. I know, I know, some love it and find it useful and expedient. I, however, find the platform lacks emotion and true, heartfelt human words. But that's just me. At the going rate, AI will take over all industries, if it hasn't already. I'm happily retired from the writing 'grind' and find myself more than content being in my garden, surrounded by everything I planted and everything I continue to nourish. What a transition I've endured in the last four years!

22 days are like that, though. A numbered day of each month to take stock of your life and see how it's going. At least that's how I view this most magnificent day. 22 days have been guiding my life forever since I can remember. A very good friend of mine in Boulder, Colorado, used to have her email address with the 22 number in it, and I asked her what it meant. For the life of me, I can't recall her explanation, and yet, I somehow adopted this special day as my own. I even thanked her in my first book, "Ripple Effects."

Now, onto my beloved Wizard and his turning two years young. I mean, wow! How time flies when we're having fun. He has truly grown up to be such a cool pup--full of vim and vigor and ready to tackle anything. His best attribute is his wisdom, something we've been told by many people who run into us together and watch his eyes and mannerisms. Wizard's eyes and stance in public are genuinely soulful. It's as if he has a pulse and intuition on what's going on around before any of us know it.

Given all of that--the writing status, Wizard's new age, my feelings on more than I care to mention here--I'm thinking that June is turbulent, but will be okay. Whether it's a worldly crisis or a personal crisis, we are on the precipice of a MAJOR transition happening before our very eyes. I want to be the voice of the positive and the loving, but I have also become much more of a realist. Whichever the case, I know that living simply and with an immense amount of love in our hearts is the key to being content and happy.

Yet, I do question it at times. I'm no longer writing for money, and I'm no longer a version of my old self. I'll be 66 years old this October, and all signs are pointing to a sustained life of awareness towards health, my man, our dog, our immediate responsibilities, our community at large, and being kind to those we meet and interact with. Some days, it takes a village. Especially when political clashes take over the atmosphere.

I want to rise above all of that. For now and forever.

If I do decide to write another piece for any publication or journal, or ghostwrite a memoir, I'll surely let you know. For some reason, things need to line up, and the project needs to speak to me. Otherwise, I'm over here, in a small seaside community on the Central California Coast, living as best as I can, and loving as best as I am. With Wizard, with Greg, with my prolific garden, and with a big ol' full heart.

I wish you all the same.

Happy June. Happy 22 day. Happy celebrations for many days to come.

With love,

Gerry Ellen xoxo