Hello February friends,

Imbolg/Imbolc tidings to those who celebrate!

The goddess Brigid is bringing light and warmth back to the Northern Hemisphere. Some will light fires in Her honor today, February 1.

Some will celebrate the New Year on February 17 — the Year of the Fire Horse!

It is the full moon tonight…

And I am feeling reflective.

The hot personal news is that I am back in the U.S. after two years away.

What began as $5,000 saved and a one-year work visa to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2024 turned into an extra year of farming and backpacking in Scotland and Iceland.

It was excellent.

This last year pushed me to build more relationships outside of traditional capitalist structures. It asked me to endure discomfort (i.e., tougher material conditions) in exchange for deeper liberation and joy. On just how little money can I survive? How little electricity? Heat?

2025: Hiked three distance trails, lost 40 lbs, gained hoeing biceps, read 70 library books. Flew home broke and full of tales. I am tired. And changed!

The past few weeks have been all about job applications, getting really anxious before interviews, trying to catch up with everyone vs. autistic overwhelm, and allowing my body some proper rest.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the generational privilege of having family to crash with as often as I have. Though my siblings and I grew up poor (rural pastor’s family eating from the offering plate), my parents both came from white middle class upbringings, so I think I experience many of the sociological outcomes associated with that income bracket.

It’s this sensation like I won’t fall through the cracks. I can’t — the cracks weren’t designed for me.

And with everything going on in the U.S. — the true mask of a nation founded on White supremacy and capitalism revealed to the general public —

I keep thinking…

How can I utilize my privilege to increase safety and access for others?

How can I leverage my whiteness to liberate others and myself?

What skills do I bring to the table?

What are my roles?

Answers always evolving and growing, but those are the questions on my mind this month of light returning.

It’s February now.

I’m back in the land my ancestors stole — my favorite corner of it.

Back in the dying empire for its extinction burst.

Time to plant seeds soon.