Some appear cuddly and entice you to play.<br/> Some bare their teeth and scare you away.<br/> Some follow you silently waiting to prey. <br/> Some offer safety in their own secret way. <br/>

My intense fear of bears lurking in the woods has followed me through my childhood, into my nights, and even into this very moment. But I am forging my path into those woods, one tree at a time, through explorative writing. The words that flow from my thoughts through my pen set the course, often in unexpected directions. I invite you to join me on this journey through the stories of a life. A life filled with the challenges we all face as we discover our unique trail through the shadows in the woods.

Quote and reflection

“What lies behind us and lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” Ralph Waldo Emerson

I loved this quote the minute I heard it, many long years ago. I wanted to find what was waiting for me within, a place I had seldom been aware of much less explored. There was so much going on ‘out there’. I was working so hard on making my way towards all that was before me: my future career, future home, future relationship that would lead to the family I imagined – so different from the one I had grown up in. That one was now part of what was behind me. The isolation, the fear of making my father mad, the sense of being controlled well beyond what I observed with my friends. Maybe it was this quote that led me to the exploration that followed, and ultimately to begin writing a memoir – and to this blog!

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