My couch mate

Apologies for my absence here lately—after writing February’s newsletter, I crawled onto the couch and pulled a blanket over my head, figuratively speaking…mostly. I continued doing the necessary things to keep my home and our lives running, but any creative work, with words or art, has been largely absent. I’ve needed—and taken—some downtime with no expectations. There *may* have been napping involved.

Where is my Year of the Fire Horse energy, hmm? Up and galloped away without me, apparently.

Anyway, this post is to let you know that I am:

1. Alive.

2. Possibly coming out of my recent funk (?). Jury is still out, but there are some promising signs of life.

During the past couple of weeks, I took some time to mend and tend—the phrase I’m using in place of a word of the year in 2026. As I explained in January’s Happy Little Thoughts newsletter:

“I chose this combination because while I have come a long way in dealing with the losses and griefs of the past few years, I still feel tender and vulnerable, as if any setback could send me back to darkness. I’m not ready to make ambitious plans, but I am ready to take steps forward. I am on the mend, but could use some further tending. I’m not exactly broken, but I’m not exactly whole.” 

The last couple of weeks have felt like much-needed mending. Sometimes the best way for a wound to heal is to leave it alone and not mess with it. Getting extra sleep when you’re sick allows your body to do its healing work. Psychic wounds are no different.

In other news, we’re gearing up for another home renovation, this time in our kitchen and spare bathroom. It shouldn’t take as much time or be as all-consuming as the main bathroom reno, but I will have a bunch of decisions to make and contractors to coordinate in the next couple of months. Hoping for as good an outcome as the bathroom!

What have you been up to lately?