Dear friends and friends-to-be,

Yesterday, I took the first step on a walk that will last a year: twelve months of discovering myself through journalling, using the signs of the zodiac as monthly themes. I’m starting this journey at the beginning of Leo, the zodiac sign associated with self-expression, so taking the plunge yesterday (on 22 July) seemed particularly timely.

Why this? Well, I was inspired by a book that fell across my path: Self Care by the Signs, by Valerie Tejeda. (I listened to the Audible Original version which you can find here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Care-by-the-Signs-Audiobook/B09TG43RDV)

Why now? Because the world around me has shifted recently, and I know the best way I can honour that movement, is by rediscovering who I am in a world that looks different.

Why ever am I telling you this?

Because the world has shifted for so many of us over the last few years. Lost loved ones, forced career shifts, lockdowns, politics and war have rocked us all. I know writing is a proven way of processing change, but just sitting down in front of a blank page is, frankly, overwhelming. That’s why Valerie Tejeda’s book sparked an idea in me that made it feel less scary: writing on a theme that is determined by the natural world and that changes every four weeks. Long enough to sit with the theme and get to know it, but not so long that it sounds soul-destroyingly BORING.

Having a theme for my journalling makes it easier. And you know what else helps? Having friends.

That’s why I’m inviting you to join me, to walk and write and reflect your way to a new place in your relationship with the most precious person in your life: you.

My path this year will take me along a road that started with a particularly seismic shift. My mother died last week. But this is not going to be a series of posts about mourning, because, selfishly, this is not about her, it’s about me. The destination shining at the end of my year-long walk is a relationship with myself in a new world; one in which I belong to the oldest generation.

If you choose to walk with me, your journey can take you anywhere you choose, through a new romantic relationship, a new job, a new hobby, or simply closer to who you are.

My commitment to you is to walk this path daily for fifty two weeks, and to share a post about it at least once a week.

My invitation is for you to join me, whether as readers or fellow journallers, daily, weekly or simply as the spirit moves you, to comment, walk along, share your own stories.

I’ll carry a sweat towel for you all year, and we can share a celebratory drink at the end.

Love,

Marianne