The Best Part of You

My mom struggled with health issues ever since I could remember, but she passed away quite suddenly sixteen years ago. I don't know that I will ever get over the shock of waking up the next morning and realizing I would never, ever see her again in this life. Since then, more people dear to me have also passed on. Sometimes I wonder what it means to go on trying to create poems, stories, and art that I will never be able to share with them, but then I cherish words I saved from an old Juno account message my mom sent me while I was in college:

"Take care, and follow your dreams. They are the best part of you." 

I want to honor her belief in me, in whatever small way I can. Our beautiful Earth is full of ecological disasters, and societal struggles and divisions, and I wonder sometimes in all this noise if my little drop of life/ink has any more meaning than the splatter of a rain drop on hard asphalt. Maybe not. Or maybe the meaning is solely up to me. Perhaps, the echo of those who loved us still pushes us towards being our best selves today.   

I'm working on two sci-fi projects this year that I'm really excited about! I know they aren't truly important in the grand scheme of things, but these stories make me intensely happy (*excluding the revision process!), and when I finally share them with you . . .  I hope they'll make you smile, too. 

Stay tuned for more musings from the far side of my mind.