Travelling the Mundane

My coming-of-age story didn’t end when I turned 18. Through a lifetime spent searching for life’s buried treasures, I met with obstacles to overcome, as many of us do, and learned to live my best life.

I unearthed treasures that have brought me joy and dug up gems of wisdom I carry with me. In every situation I have found nuggets of wit and humour.

Ernest Hemingway wrote, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

All I have seen, all I have done, and all whom I’ve met have both inspired and transformed me – have become my moveable feast.

New stories came for me when I least expected them, guiding me to places I thought I belonged. Where I belonged changed often as I pushed my personal boundaries, embracing its discomfort.

But there was no other way. I discovered a surprising resilience that I only became aware of from a distance.

Hemingway also wrote, “Maybe away from Paris I could write about Paris as in Paris I could write about Michigan…I did not know Paris well enough.”

My journey started at 12 years old when my life literally changed in one day — a new home, a new environment, a new culture. Almost 60 years later, I am still exploring what it means to be me – not sure I have me right yet, but not giving up.

During those years, I worked as a newspaper reporter, a freelance writer, a newspaper editor, then a managing editor for two trade magazines. I published two magazines – they didn’t last long. I left journalism and went into corporate communications in the financial industry.

And during those writing days, I raised three sons, went to journalism school, then on to university to study English and Psychology.

In my late 40s, my husband died. In my early 50s, I started taking voice lessons. At 58, I went to Music School; learned to play guitar and piano and sing jazz. And still worked in communications

In 2021, I left my job and am now self-employed in the financial industry. But…the urge to write is strong. During the last five years, I have thought a lot about writing again.

I did not know me well enough, until now. I’m ready to wrap myself around the work of a female fiction author.