A few years ago, I adopted the mindset to begin treating my birthday as the start of the new year. Let’s face it, our birthdays are the beginning of a new year of life for us, and lucky for me, that’s in April. Springtime. The beginning of the astrological year aka Aries season. And as of today, my new year is in exactly 3 months. I’m not going to get into the astrology of it all, mostly because it’s an area of expertise, but as a cancer moon individual, my feelings of letting go are running rampant.
I arrived in Spain at the end of October eager to begin my time as an English language assistant in a local colegio. This excursion was years in the making. An advisor from undergrad spoke of it. That was over a decade ago. But I’m here now. I’m here in a pueblo of 11000 approximately 45km from the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a far cry from Houston, Texas. No one here looks like me. There are stares, sure, but no scowls. The important is that I overcame countless doubts, struggles, addictions, and fears to get here. And I’m proud of myself.
Yesterday, I finally deleted Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram for good. Coincidence right? Delete Facebook, which I’ve had since 2005, and go back to blogging. Except this feels a bit more grownup up than Xanga and a little less adult than old Tumblr (RIP). Meta files and photos were transferred to an external drive. No more idiotic ads, ai rubbish, political pandering and sophomoric social commentary. That social media era is now behind me. I’m ready to move forward. To create. To expand. To love. To become. Most of all, I’m remembering all that which was important to me as a child and translating that into adult life. To make my younger and current selves happy. To go from the bayou to beyond.
From Bayou to Beyond 