Well, it’s been a year.

Last November, I stepped away from my corporate gig to focus full time on writing and illustration. One year later, I’m here in my new, creative studio, Bridge Over Wild. A place for artistic experimentation, learning, and growth. A place for new ideas and dead ends. A place for infinite cups of coffee, stacks of notebooks, too many art supplies, mood music that changes like the weather, and a manic sense of peace I never knew was possible.

It’s been a wonderful year. A terrifying year. It has been everything I expected plus a few things I didn’t.

And? I love it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m afraid too. It is a scary thing to go from a defined path to a fluid one. It is a scary thing to try something new this far in the game. I’ve been tempted to hide away until I create something brilliant. Whatever brilliant may be. Something that somehow proves that I’m a “real” writer, or artist, or somehow validates that I’m doing the right thing.

But if I’ve learned anything in the last year, it is that precious, new things need light to grow. So, I can’t hide away. It’s the choice to be open about what I’m up to that has led to the biggest, unexpected outcome of the year - connection.

When I moved away from a bustling office - and all the 24/7 connectivity that comes along with it - and into a quiet home studio in suburban Seattle, it could have been an exercise in isolation. Instead, it has been a year of expanding and deepening connections. I’ve learned that if I share openly with my family and friends, it creates symbiotic safety for others to do the same. Turns out that Brené Brown is right. Being authentic and vulnerable really is a game changer.

Over the past year, people have been sharing their dreams and ideas with me…and asking a lot of great questions about taking the leap. Questions that have made me smile and made me think. Some of you are cheering on my dream, some of you have a dream of your own. Maybe your dream is writing a children’s book, maybe it’s opening a bakery, maybe it’s simply having a role that you can approach with a little more joy each day.

Once a month, I’ll share an update from the studio that answers some of these great questions and more - the transition from corporate to creative, learning a new craft and industry, and taking a dream from the margins of life into the main story. I’ll also share my thoughts on the big questions in the air right now like, what about self-publishing? And, what about money? And the ever-present, what about AI?

Let’s stay connected.