On new beginnings

And making our way back to the work that feeds our soul.

“That pilgrim island
in the end,
just a brief passage
away, 
just the other
side of a short sentence
or a sweet
blank page,
just a dab of paint
on the waiting canvas,
waiting 
for you…”

— David Whyte, “The Pilgrim Island”

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Welcome! My name is Candace, and I’m a writer and artist. But my newest job title is the one I’m most proud of — mama to a bright-eyed baby girl named Elena Rose. 

In one of my favorite poems by David Whyte, he compares the experience of sitting down to write — or paint or engage in other creative endeavors — to journeying to a pilgrim island across the sea; a place that you can “be out to, and back from, in a short day,” a place where you can do the work that feeds your soul. 

It’s also a place that, for the first few weeks and months after Elena was born, I didn’t have a chance to visit very often, so full was each day with nursing and nap times and stroller walks. 

On the hardest days, I wondered if I’d ever get there again at all.

But lately, as Elena’s first birthday grows closer and our days together settle into a more consistent flow, I’ve been feeling a quiet stirring. A little whisper of creative restlessness, calling me back to the pilgrim island. 

I thought about starting a new book project, or taking a course on children’s book illustration. Finally, with the help of my husband Jose, I landed on something a little smaller: an illustrated newsletter, comprised of a short weekly essay simply about my journey to rediscover creative rhythms as a new mom.

And, as I share on my About page here, we decided to call it Dandelion Seeds, after one of Elena’s favorite books — and I hope you’ll be inspired to notice the dandelion seeds in your own days.

It feels like a kind of homecoming to be finding this new space as a mom and creative, and I’m grateful to you for being here. 

Here’s to making our way back to the pilgrim island,
Candace

One of my first days back on the pilgrim island (a.k.a. our dining room table), working on a new illustration for Dandelion Seeds