🌷 Can we take a page from nature's book?

Nature doesn't wake up and start its year in January. You don't have to either. It's okay if you're still hibernating.

Mar 02, 2025

Dear friend,

This week, my sister sent me a picture of daffodils popping up in her back yard and I got teary eyed from the hope it gave me.

I don't know anyone who started 2025 in January.

It feels like we've all been collectively holding our breaths while simultaneously shouting. We've been putting out so many fires – some of us quite literally – that we haven't had a chance to take a break, reassess and honor the beginning of the year.

Some of us are still hibernating and healing, unable and unwilling to jump into resolutions and goal setting.

And that's okay.

Our modern calendars might make us feel behind in life, but nature is here to remind us that we're right on time.

Nature doesn't wake up in January. It's barely gotten tucked in for the winter! Modern society has us believe we get a few days off in December and that's it. Back to work.

But our bodies are still hibernating. They're still groggy and slow. They're still in need of rest – or better yet something more specific like rejuvenation, rehabilitation, and sleep.

If you feel "behind" or like this year is "already lost" – sentiments I've heard from my clients, colleagues, and friends lately – know that the year has barely begun and you've still got time.

Daffodils are a sign of hope.

When I was a kid, I helped sell bundles of flowers for "Daffodil Days" a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Daffodils – a flower that bursts out of the ground from seemingly nowhere to signal that spring is coming – give us hope that sunshine is on its way.

I'm working on a novel right now about someone finding love after a terminal cancer diagnosis. (If you've read my book Because Fat Girl you might have an idea of who it is.)

You'd think that topic would be horribly hard to write, but it's actually quite a joyful and hopeful book.

My brother found love as he was dying.

My dear friend Nicté found love as she was dying.

Refugees and asylum seekers, people in war torn areas, being with life threatening diseases – they all find love and art and beauty in life still.

Let's be real about it, we're all dying all the time, some of us just less obviously so. That's the reality of our mortality.

And yet, we all keep going out there and bravely loving, creating art, living our lives. That's the reality of our humanity.

No matter how hard life gets, we still love, we still create, we still find beauty in life.

No matter how dark the days get, there are still colorful daffodils waiting to spring up when you least expect them.

No matter how hard life gets, there are always moments of beauty, creativity, and love.

My goal right now is to lean into that as I slowly start to wake up and face the start of the year 2025.

To help you do the same, I've put together some resources that might support you in finding art, love, creativity, and beauty right now in life.

Resources to support you right now:

Creative Resilience Toolkit: Overcome rejection and thrive as a creative.
Your Creative Life Blueprint: Making space for art is a busy and chaotic world.
Journal Through It: From "oh $#@!" to "I've got this!" in 30 minutes.

Some creative and inspiring escapism:

My queer contemporary novel Because Fat Girl is "the balm for the soul we all need right now" (according to one review). Grab it anywhere books are sold, but it's especially soothing on audiobook because you get to have me read it to you.
Plot Twist: A Collaborative Novel is my latest creative project, a Choose Your Own Adventure-style interactive experience where you get to decide what the characters say and do next. Come join along on the journey and write a book with us.
Get lost in a great book with our favorite recs at Bookshop.org.

What are you loving right now? What's bringing you joy, hope, and beauty in your life?