This was so great to read in full. Many times I receive the message from my higher self that I am exactly where I need to be, in this present moment. Mid-July 2019, my husband and I travelled to Bowen island for a vacation. Upon returning to work, I heard yet ANOTHER woman was pregnant. I lamented into my journal about my sorrow of not being pregnant yet. Come early August, I miss my cycle and have overwhelming urges to eat meat. I wonder if I am pregnant and invite a friend over on August 8 for a powerful meditation on the Lion's portal (8th day of the 8th month). August 15th, I get paid again and purchase a pregnancy test and it is overwhelmingly positive. It came at exactly the right time, and yet, sometimes it was hard to trust it would happen at all. My child is my greatest gift.
August vacations are the main driver of those millions of May babies. I knew on 8/14/94 that the day before (the first day of our vacation) that something felt different. Those surges in hormones begin immediately. Our son arrived on 5/7/95. Once that train leaves the station time flies faster with each year. He just got married last summer to his high-school sweetheart.
Candace, this gives me goosebumps on so many levels. Thank you for sharing your journeys, your notebooks, your wisdom. It is a privilege to experience your essays ❤️️
Bravo! Thank you for this journey. And your well of stories to tell us. English storyteller Ashley Ramsden told us in a workshop that the best storytellers are very old. It takes that long to collect our personal stories and to understand their significance.
She has wisdom beyond her years. I blew threw my twenties like a drunken sailor. I never knew when to anchor or sail into a storm. God watched out for me in my foolishness. I still don’t know why.
I also lived by the seat of my pants and it's amazing how I survived ... not unscathed, mind you, but survival is good. It brings lessons and fodder for later stories. Meanwhile, you may be serving your purpose right now.
Yeah. You may never know if your part in the grander scheme of things wasn’t just to say what some one needed to hear or not. I read the testimony of this teacher who was approached by a young woman who had been one of his high school students. She thanked him for saving her life and he had no idea what she was talking about. She had planned out her suicide, prepared everything to carry it out, her parents were away for a long weekend and she didn’t want to miss school lest they call her parents who would have returned home immediately and or called police to check on her. Anyway, that day in class he was going over projects they turned in and came to her at the end of the class to tell her how much he loved her work, how talented she was and he gave her a little hug. That small act changed her mind. When she explained it to him he thought that if he had given it more thought before hand he most likely would not have given her the hug because he would not have wanted to give her the wrong idea. Clearly she did not, went on to college and had a couple kids of her own. He had no memory of the incident but did remember her. You never know if just smiling at a stranger or a kind word is magic in another’s life.
It is for this reason that I listen carefully to that small voice that just whispers a seemingly intrusive thought. I try not to second guess it. Excuse the novella. You just reminded me about that.
What a beautiful essay! It's nice to read everything on one page. Keep your notebooks as long as you can. Until a few years ago I threw my notebooks away when I finished them. Now I keep them all. They are part of my life.
I startle at the question, 'what are you going to do with that?' and think, "what will you do without it?'. It's impossible to think of life without a notebook- I've grown into mine more and more.
This whole piece from start to finish is magical- thank you so much for sharing it with us here 💛
Thank you for sharing. I felted like I traveled with you .
I recently had some work done in my apartment and found some old journals, I am so thankful I didn't throw them away. Reading them again will be my time travel moment.
I love everything about these stories and drawings: the yellowed background colour, like the weathered pages of an old, well-used notebook, the insights about your future that you knew inside to be true for you, the idea that there are times of accumulating stories and times for remembering. But most of all I admire that you were courageous enough to travel so much in your twenties which absolutely led to your beautiful life now. Thank you Candace!
I love the mood and feel and details from the time itself, and the sense that the noticing and recording matters no matter what you "do" with it. I also love the reminder that things come in their own season.
Beautiful and contemplative prose accompanied by such lovely illustrations. Thanks for taking us on your walk. Your notebooks will be treasures to many generations!!
Oh my goodness, Candace. "I'm filling my well, because one day, I know, I'll begin to draw from it again." I love how your story seemed to begin with this, and then you added it at the end, too. And yet, it isn't the ending, is how life flows through you and how you allow those seasons so you can draw from it later. You are doing beautiful, important work now, as a mom. Relish the time. It ends all too quickly. XO
Speechless, you are a breath of fresh air in a stuffy room. Thank you for sharing your treasures. They are way more valuable than gold.
Parenting takes one to a whole new plain where you see through the eyes you once had when you were small. There is nothing more wonderful than the profound love one has for their children. It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love and the most rewarding. Not that there aren’t tears and hard moments too.
God bless and keep you and yours safe in His hand always.
This was so great to read in full. Many times I receive the message from my higher self that I am exactly where I need to be, in this present moment. Mid-July 2019, my husband and I travelled to Bowen island for a vacation. Upon returning to work, I heard yet ANOTHER woman was pregnant. I lamented into my journal about my sorrow of not being pregnant yet. Come early August, I miss my cycle and have overwhelming urges to eat meat. I wonder if I am pregnant and invite a friend over on August 8 for a powerful meditation on the Lion's portal (8th day of the 8th month). August 15th, I get paid again and purchase a pregnancy test and it is overwhelmingly positive. It came at exactly the right time, and yet, sometimes it was hard to trust it would happen at all. My child is my greatest gift.
August vacations are the main driver of those millions of May babies. I knew on 8/14/94 that the day before (the first day of our vacation) that something felt different. Those surges in hormones begin immediately. Our son arrived on 5/7/95. Once that train leaves the station time flies faster with each year. He just got married last summer to his high-school sweetheart.
Bless you, Candace. You are a gift.
You made me cry. Thank you!
Candace, this gives me goosebumps on so many levels. Thank you for sharing your journeys, your notebooks, your wisdom. It is a privilege to experience your essays ❤️️
Bravo! Thank you for this journey. And your well of stories to tell us. English storyteller Ashley Ramsden told us in a workshop that the best storytellers are very old. It takes that long to collect our personal stories and to understand their significance.
She has wisdom beyond her years. I blew threw my twenties like a drunken sailor. I never knew when to anchor or sail into a storm. God watched out for me in my foolishness. I still don’t know why.
I also lived by the seat of my pants and it's amazing how I survived ... not unscathed, mind you, but survival is good. It brings lessons and fodder for later stories. Meanwhile, you may be serving your purpose right now.
Yeah. You may never know if your part in the grander scheme of things wasn’t just to say what some one needed to hear or not. I read the testimony of this teacher who was approached by a young woman who had been one of his high school students. She thanked him for saving her life and he had no idea what she was talking about. She had planned out her suicide, prepared everything to carry it out, her parents were away for a long weekend and she didn’t want to miss school lest they call her parents who would have returned home immediately and or called police to check on her. Anyway, that day in class he was going over projects they turned in and came to her at the end of the class to tell her how much he loved her work, how talented she was and he gave her a little hug. That small act changed her mind. When she explained it to him he thought that if he had given it more thought before hand he most likely would not have given her the hug because he would not have wanted to give her the wrong idea. Clearly she did not, went on to college and had a couple kids of her own. He had no memory of the incident but did remember her. You never know if just smiling at a stranger or a kind word is magic in another’s life.
It is for this reason that I listen carefully to that small voice that just whispers a seemingly intrusive thought. I try not to second guess it. Excuse the novella. You just reminded me about that.
May your we'll be bountiful and beautiful always so we keep experiencing it's glory, your glory 💕🙏
Great stories. And illustrations too. We all need to fill our wells.
What a beautiful essay! It's nice to read everything on one page. Keep your notebooks as long as you can. Until a few years ago I threw my notebooks away when I finished them. Now I keep them all. They are part of my life.
I startle at the question, 'what are you going to do with that?' and think, "what will you do without it?'. It's impossible to think of life without a notebook- I've grown into mine more and more.
This whole piece from start to finish is magical- thank you so much for sharing it with us here 💛
Thank you for sharing. I felted like I traveled with you .
I recently had some work done in my apartment and found some old journals, I am so thankful I didn't throw them away. Reading them again will be my time travel moment.
I love your words. Thanks for sharing these sweet reflections and always grounding in the present.
I love everything about these stories and drawings: the yellowed background colour, like the weathered pages of an old, well-used notebook, the insights about your future that you knew inside to be true for you, the idea that there are times of accumulating stories and times for remembering. But most of all I admire that you were courageous enough to travel so much in your twenties which absolutely led to your beautiful life now. Thank you Candace!
I love the mood and feel and details from the time itself, and the sense that the noticing and recording matters no matter what you "do" with it. I also love the reminder that things come in their own season.
Beautiful and contemplative prose accompanied by such lovely illustrations. Thanks for taking us on your walk. Your notebooks will be treasures to many generations!!
Oh my goodness, Candace. "I'm filling my well, because one day, I know, I'll begin to draw from it again." I love how your story seemed to begin with this, and then you added it at the end, too. And yet, it isn't the ending, is how life flows through you and how you allow those seasons so you can draw from it later. You are doing beautiful, important work now, as a mom. Relish the time. It ends all too quickly. XO
Speechless, you are a breath of fresh air in a stuffy room. Thank you for sharing your treasures. They are way more valuable than gold.
Parenting takes one to a whole new plain where you see through the eyes you once had when you were small. There is nothing more wonderful than the profound love one has for their children. It’s the hardest job you’ll ever love and the most rewarding. Not that there aren’t tears and hard moments too.
God bless and keep you and yours safe in His hand always.