Hi Autumn, you’re very welcome and thank you for your lovely reply. 🙂

Yes, it is mindboggling to look back and realise how long ago some things were!
I’m grateful I got to go to Paris. I hope that one day you get to visit there and to come to the UK too! There’s lot of things to do here and Brighton (my nearest city here in Sussex) is a popular tourist destination 🙂

Two of my dream destinations are Miami and Hawaii. I would like to visit the beaches there and it would be nice to go somewhere warm! I actually have been to Honolulu Airport on the way to and from Fiji (where I lived for a bit as a child), but I don’t really count that, lol. I would also like to visit Asia, Japan and Singapore in particular.

You’re welcome. 🙂 I do find it quite accurate and this May the weather has had colder and hotter spells. I’m not quite ready to get the flipflops out yet! lol.
Yes, I think there’s something to love and appreciate in all seasons. 🙂

Thank you, it’s good to know that you understand and that I can talk to you if I need to. I’m happy to talk to you too. 🙂

Thanks again for visiting my blog, it’s always a lovely surprise to receive comments from you! Also wishing you a wonderful end of May and smooth transition into June. ❤️

💜 Zania

Hello sweet soul, thank you very much for your immensely kind, caring, and thoughtful reply.

I hear you regarding travelling abroad last feeling like it was ages upon ages ago. The last time I stepped foot outside of North America was early 2006 – and, hopping back further in time, twenty-three years have now elapsed since that trip to Portugal (a point that never stops boggling my mind).

How awesome that you got to experience the City of Lights firsthand. It is a location I have long dreamed of spending time in as well and very much hope to follow in your footsteps and do precisely that one day.

I am also beyond champing at the bit to see the UK. Save for numerous times at Heathrow Airport, I have ever been and literally daydream about doing so.

What would be one (or more) of your dream travel locations?

That is a very charming – and accurate – saying. Thank you for sharing it with me. It feels all the more apt, actually, given that we are experiencing a chillier than usual May here this year. Which, truth be told, aside from the negative impacts it can have on the ecosystem (including those most industrious of garden friends, the bees), I absolutely adore.

While I love and appreciate each season beyond measure, I am much more of a fall/winter/early spring weather kind of gal (though, that said, to my mind, there are few things more sublime than a perfectly warm – but not humid or stiflingly hot – summer night).

Thank you again deeply, dear heart – very much including for your understanding + kindness regarding one’s mental health. If you face battles of your own on that front, please know that my solidarity is with you and that I am always just an email away if you ever need someone to talk to about anything you are going through.

Wishing you a sunny, safe, serene, and very happy May-into-June.

🖤 Autumn

Hi Autumn, I’ve only just seen your reply now. 🙂 You’re very welcome.

I’ve never been to Portugal but I can imagine the churches there are great to visit, impressive in architecture and age. It’s amazing how old some of them are and still standing! My local one is thought to be from the very end of the 11th century or early 12th.
I visted Paris when I was 15 (last time I went abroad), that seems like a long time ago now too! lol.

Thank you. I’m also sorry to hear about your struggles with depression, anxiety and PTSD. It helps to know that others understand mental health issues, although of course I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I’m glad that spirituality helps you too, along with crafting and art. 🙂

Thank you for the beautiful wishes and I wish the same for you. <3

You're very welcome! Thank you too for your visits to my blog and lovely comments, and your replies here.

Thanks, spring has been very "changeable" in the UK so far, it had gone warmer and then felt more like winter again. There is a saying here, "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out", which is thought to mean don't take off layers until either the end of May or until the May trees (hawthorn) have blossomed (I'm not sure which). I find it's quite accurate because it takes till about May to consistently warm up!
Also wishing you a wonderful spring. I know that winter can be long in Canada, so I hope that you're staying warm if it's cold, or enjoying warmer, spring weather!

Zania ❤️

My dear friend, thank you for bringing tears to the brims of my eyes with your incredibly kind and supportive words.

Throughout my 37 (nearly 38 at this point) years of life, few things I have ever written flowed as naturally or powerfully as this entry. It was as though these statements were ones I had been wanting to not only make, but to corral together in one cohesive space, for decades now.

I am truly grateful that this blog gave me the platform in which to do precisely that – just as I am for the awesomely lovely support my readers expressed in response to it.

This post is one of my favourite and most meaningful things I have ever penned and I know that I will return to it myself sometimes when I need a powerful reminder of my own strength/capabilities.

From my heart to yours, thank you again.

Abundant hugs & beautiful springtime wishes,
🖤 Autumn

Sweet Zania, thank you very much for your beautiful words and for sharing more about your own path with me as well.

I concur completely regarding the serenity (and loveliness) that is inherent to many places of public worship. I have actually attended my church services throughout my life, too, and while I am not – and have never been a Christian – I can certainly appreciate the faith and find some common ground between elements of it and my own spiritual journey.

Plus, I absolutely adore the architecture, art, and religious icons of many older churches and make a point to try and visit such locations while travelling (to date, the oldest ones I have been in were several in Portugal, which I visited with some family members shortly before my 15th birthday – aka, a million years ago now! ;D).

I am tremendously sorry about the mental health battles you come against, dear heart. Thank you so much for sharing that very intimate fact about yourself here with me/us.

As someone who has battled horrifically severe depression for much of my life (ditto for anxiety and PTSD), I too have found my spirituality to be amongst those elements that have helped the most with my mental health. Crafting + art is another huge one for me.

May witchery always continue to be of benefit to you that and many other fronts.

Thank you again for everything. Warmest wishes for a sunny, safe, and very enjoyable springtime coming your way!

🖤 Autumn

Thank you deeply for your own soulful words, dear Sanne.

The things you discussed have spiritual, witchy qualities for sure and are certainly elements that are relatively common amongst the witch/Wiccan/Pagan community.

I am of the mind that only an individual themselves gets to determine if they are a witch – however, they opt to perceive and interpret that word – or not. Thus, it is up to you entirely, my lovely friend, regarding if you wish to embrace the word witch and all comes with being one.

Honestly, I think that those – like us – who are profoundly pulled towards Halloween/Samhain are very inclined to be witches or to at least relate to the sphere of witchery. Therefore, I was not surprised – but was thoroughly delighted – to read that you witchery is something that resonates with you as well.

Immense hugs & the very happiest of springtime wishes,
🖤 Autumn

Aww!!! Thank you SO much! That really means a lot to me as well. Those rings almost never come off my fingers (about the only times would be if they were at risk of being damaged for whatever reason or for medical appointments/surgeries where jewelry is not permitted). I hope dearly that they will be with me for the rest of my days, as each feels like a literal part of myself at this point.

As well, as they were all on me that night, they are amongst the only physical objects that I (we) owned at the time to come through the total loss arson fire we experienced back in 2016. This only endears them to my heart and makes me cherish them all the more.

🖤 Autumn