In the time of COVID-19 I’ve had to forgo quality time with family and my partner’s family. I have had to forgo award receptions for national prizes in writing, specifically in flash fiction. I’ve had to anxiously debate job security until that reality hit hard with the statewide lockdown and pushed me towards different decisions all together.

I’ve gained two pounds, lost one pound, then gained four more.

I’ve completed a second semester in my MFA in writing program, and I’ve officially made my subject focus in nonfiction as I develop work around memoir, all centered on my maternal grandparents as my grandfather lay dying.

My meditations of the season are centered around grief, loss, and surrender.

My goals of the season are around mindful eating, mindful social media use, and integrating new fitness habits into a drastic change in physical mobility.

I share with you this thought; the only way to be a vessel for positive transformation is to become a calm and warm receiver of pain.

I ask you this question; where are you right now, and where do you want to be? That should not be taken literally.