If a blog had a gate with a sign upon entering, this one would say: “Please do not abandon hope, all you that enter here”. Detours of the Soul illustrates the places my spirit has lived, hoped, and dreamt of being an artist, making a book, while at the same time collecting sundry things, and then wishing to pare down.

If I were you, dear reader, I might be asking, “who is this lady?” Thus, I will briefly throw together a few facts.

I am 60 years old and the mother of two beautiful adults, a daughter and a son. I’ve rented the same tiny house for over 25 years and have been working at the library for 19 years. When not reading, working or taking walks, I mostly draw. Also, I work with collage, watercolor, and oils. My pictures are similar to my way of being, I hide at times, or, as my son said on a hike, my pictures are “like the rocks right when the sun is setting”.

Because of my fear of being seen and misinterpreted, I have avoided computers as much as someone can in this day and age. Back to the hope idea, although I am not Buddhist, I find they have some useful practices, and thus, I was reading a book wherein the monk/author said that hope was not a good thing, it is false, one should live in the present. That would not be me. There wouldn’t be as much art or literature without souls who suffer in regards to the past, or those who express such experiences for future people. I took anti-depressants for many years and it was instant- always living in the present. It had a flattening feel, I made few pictures, cleaned the house a lot, and laughed more at work (which felt odd).

What I’m trying to say is, though I have been partly living in a dream world for many years, it is a place with some beauty, a place where I do fit in. A pragmatist might say, “get a life you magical thinker”. I just hope someone who does not like such labels will read my book. I think there is some truth to the adage that we find what we are looking for. I am trying to look for beauty and meaning. I am trying to have an open heart.

I hope you will enjoy visiting a few of the detours my soul has taken. And I hope, dear reader, that you will trust your own dreams, your own voice.