2026 begins!

“The Year of Adventure.” That’s my theme  for 2026. I’m doing two adventurous things that will require great strength and bravery, so I might as well go all in!

My flagship adventures are self-publishing a book and going on a school trip to the Netherlands. That might seem basic to some, but I’m a cautious, arguably paranoid, definitely neurotic, individual.

I’ve never traveled without friends or family before. I won’t be totally alone because I’ll have my classmates and a professor, but I’ve never met any of them. The details about the trip are also pretty vague—I’ve gotten no information about it other than a bill. If I didn’t know this trip happened every year, I’d be worried. But I’m not worrying. I’m being adventurous, see? 

The book though, that’s an adventure. I am afraid… Not because I’m sensitive about people reading my work. I don’t think I’m scared of wasted effort, either, ‘cause what else would I be doing? I think, to know the root of my fear, I need to know my goal. And my goal is… to make someone feel about my book the way I feel about other peoples books. I want to move people, make them feel things. I don’t know if I can succeed in that and that’s where the fear comes in. I’m also afraid that a deadline will make me glaze over areas of weakness that I might have caught otherwise.

I am scared, but I think I can live with the uncertainty. I read once that discomfort is good for your brain. At the very least, it forms character. It's not like I’m seeking out cannibal dinner parties or ax-murderer camping trips. Travel and publishing are healthy, every-day kind of horrors.

Happy new year!

C.E.