More goals are ahead
I feel led
To achieve them
One at a time
To reach each finish line
The stars are slowly aligning
I’ve seen the sharp lightning
After years of mixed messages
And confusing paths
Thanks to outdated maps
But the life game is slowing down
No more feeling like I had drown
In a sea of confusion
More books are on the way
After finally finishing my first one this year
I cheer with happy tears
Continuing to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree
At UMGC
Will be another goal that I strive to work on
Getting more involved in The Unsealed again,
is a goal I hope to work on through baby steps
If more goals come along
I welcome them with a big hug
May we all
Stand tall
To end 2024
On a high note

As we dance around the sun once again
I will demonstrate my love for you
And I will listen
Every sign
Every metaphor
Body
You are wise
I will learn more from you
Things I cannot see with my eyes
Feel with my hands
You talk to me
And I’ll stay curious
A sore stomach
And ache in my head
Sweaty palms
The fast paced beating of my heart
The signals that you send to me
I will slow down
And I will be listening
For your wisdom
This is the year
Body and soul
Dance together in time

I vow to God this dull December day
that faith and love will greet the coming year
as valiant, righteous knights opposing hate
unarmored and outnumbered, fate unclear.

My sword of truth shall drip with cobalt ink,
each slash, riposte, and stab incising verse
beneath corroded alloy chainmail links
’til evil waves the white, all ranks disperse.

But while this vital battle rages on,
I’ll raise my shield to spare the innocent—
its coat of arms: Mosaic of a Mom,
poetic scene with eighty thousand dents—

ensure their laughter’s heard above the roar
and ugliness of Moralistic War.

What pushes us forward while keeping us grounded is often the place where our dreams were founded.
We hold them close to our chest hoping that they will propel us to our best,
We have chosen each because of the morals and values they teach.
Like feeling the sun on your skin and the fresh air you’re taking in will guide you to understand that in the grand scheme, these problems you face be that of a grain of sand.
Fortify your mind, for you will find that what you keep there will become your crosses to bear.
But don’t forget your physical self and put your body away on a shelf, allowing it to slip away until you find yourself beginning to fray.
Hold the people near who mean the most and lean on them when you fear you’re at the end of your rope.
Keep them close through the good and the bad, cherish the memories, and remember that social media perfectionism is a lying fad.
Your family, whether chosen or birth, truly love you to the ends of the earth, much further I’m sure if you ask them.
Be an example to them, for they look up to you but remember they want the you that is true.
Work towards that joy that blooms from inside, that’s so abundant, there’s no place for anger or lasting sadness to hide.
Set the boundaries when you need to because if you don’t, they will carelessly walk all over you.
Put your family you created before all others, and do what it takes to give them your best. Take care of them for that is where your future rests.
I’ve shared with you what keeps you moving because you’ve got a lot of thoughts continuously blooming.
This year brought a range of strong emotions but I would sail the entire ocean to cut the cord on toxic patterns and get back to focusing on what matters.
Cheers to 2025, may this be the year that I truly thrive.

In 2025, the dawn will break,
A year of promise, a path to take.
With goals ahead, so bold, so bright,
A future waiting, full of light.

To grow in wisdom, deepen grace,
To meet each challenge face to face.
With every step, a lesson learned,
A world of progress to be earned.

In 2025, I’ll find my way,
Through brighter mornings, bolder days.
A heart more open, free from doubt,
With dreams and goals that shout and shout.

To lift the voices of the unheard,
To listen closely, every word.
To build connections, break down walls,
And rise together when life calls.

With every student, every friend,
I’ll work to help them to transcend.
To guide, to teach, to help them see,
The potential in their hearts to be.

In 2025, I’ll challenge fear,
Step forward boldly, draw more near.
To seek new knowledge, spark new fires,
To fuel the dreams and deep desires.

With each new day, I’ll take the chance,
To lead with love, to teach, to dance.
To make a difference in every way,
And celebrate the work I’ll do each day.

The goals ahead are filled with might,
And I will walk with steady light.
In 2025, I’ll boldly claim,
A year to rise, to grow, to aim.

Goals for 2025

Get up, Stay up, Don’t fall down-
You’ve been at home too long Dear, it’s time for town-

Get up, Stay up, Don’t fall down-
You can do this Dear just straighten your crown-

Get up, Stay up, Don’t fall down-
Be a Good Girl Dearest and do not frown-

Get up, Stay up, Don’t fall down-

Come correct, I say to the mirror,
not a command but a beckoning,
an invocation for grace, for truth,
for showing up without shame’s shadow.

Know when to lean in
to the warmth of a friend’s laughter,
to the edge of discomfort that births growth,
to a lover’s hands, the hymn of belonging.

Follow up, follow through,
threads of accountability weaving
a tapestry I won’t let unravel.

Smoke less, or not at all,
unless it’s with the slow reverence
of palo santo billowing and curling towards the ancestors.

Exercise more
not just my body,
but the courage to move toward joy,
the strength to stretch past hesitation.

Stay in touch, send love notes in whispers,
in texts, in hand-scrawled cards,
become the bridge between worlds we almost lose.

Be tapped into my creative vessel,
a river I refuse to dam,
flooding into states of flow where time is myth.

Devour fruits ferally
mangoes dripping,
berries ravaged,
life sweet and unplanned, bitten into wholly.

Under my blood’s moon, I’ll dance,
offer secrets to the sky,
let ritual stitch me into the night.

Get published
my words spilling
like offerings on a page,
Bring to life stories that refuse silence.

Chip away at my debt,
practicing the rejection
of a weight that I can no longer carry.

Have more sex
more holy collisions,
more communion where skin is scripture
and bated breath is a plea answered.

Stay hydrated
be a body of flowing abundance.

Know how to oscillate,
between softness and sharpness,
between solitude and the heat of crowds.

Travel to horizons that shift my spine,
to cities where my tongue learns new dances,
to fields where roots whisper my name.

Learn how to pray again,
to kneel with open hands,
to find God in what I’d lost and what I make.

Tap into intuition,
feel the pull of what’s unseen,
a guide not tethered by reason.

Call my grandma, my aunt,
build bridges of memory,
let their stories braid into my own.

Record oral histories,
gather words like fallen leaves,
preserve the voices that made me.

2025, I summon you
like a spell, like a promise
not to change me,
but to root me deeper into who I am becoming.

Dear Unsealers,

Whenever I am in the psych hospital, the nurses and psychiatrist want me to find a reason to live so I do not keep ending up there.

For many years, my tortoiseshell cat Hershey’s Kisses was my reason to live.

She adored me and would have been devastated if I had died before she did.

Finally, in October 2024, my reason for living died.

I had to put Hershey to sleep because her health declined exponentially, and living was no longer an option for her.

Now I was the one who was devastated. I had no reason for living. What do I do now?

Then, it came to me. I had spent my entire life living for others, helping others, pleasing others.

I had neglected my own happiness, my own well-being, for my entire life.

Sure, I went to therapy and took medication. Yet I still felt hollow.

I was an empty pot. I needed to fill myself with dirt, water, and a thriving plant.

The dirt would be my foundation for living. I needed plenty of nutrients.

I am learning how to treat my body like a temple, feeding myself nutrient-dense foods, and making intentional movements.

Meditating and self-reflecting.

Rest and relaxation.

The water would be the love I shower myself with. How do I show myself love?

I shall develop hobbies I perform only for myself. Take plenty of time for myself.

I have plenty of activities I plan to occupy myself with.

Making sticker collages.

Coloring in coloring books.

Writing letters and poetry to develop my preferred craft.
Reading enjoyable literature. My plan this year is to read at least one book a month. After all, the best writers also read voraciously.

There are fun activities I plan on learning how to do in 2025.

Writing shorthand so I can write as fast as I think. My mind races fast and it is impossible to catch up in longhand and speech.

Putting on makeup, not to look good for others, but to fill up with beauty the blank canvas that is my face, to visually please myself.

Colored pencil drawing, because I want my fifth-grade art teacher who criticized my self-portrait to eat her heart out.

Playing guitar and writing songs because I need to release the soul in my heart from time to time.

2025 will be the flourishing plant that springs from the pot I have lovingly curated for myself.

2025 will be the year I finally live for myself.