02/17/2026 (Golden Day 3): Ready or Not

I’m already on my last full day of my nature getaway and I’m dreading my return to the world tomorrow. The good news is that this last minute escape was exactly what I needed to prepare for what’s coming. I feel at ease in this peaceful place, and I’ll try to hold onto that feeling of calm and inner stillness as long as I can in the final hours of my time here.

I usually write every single day on a cabin trip, but I actually enjoyed some new activities for a change. I don’t know the last time I picked up a pencil, but on our first night here we created a still life from things we brought and we enjoyed sketching together. On the second day, we tried our hands at painting a landscape of the mountain range, and though that was fun as well, it was also a harsh reminder of why I don’t gravitate toward painting of any kind as an approachable art form, at least for myself. 

It was nice to take a break from all my normal hobbies and to put some new and even neglected ones at the forefront, like coloring and reading. But as I sit here on this final day, I’m glad to have a pen in hand and to be back in the familiar sanctuary that is writing. It's what I know and love most, and it’s the best therapy I’ve found in life so far. Without it, I have no idea where I’d be. 

I think I take for granted the early days of my pursuit of the craft, as if I’ve always had the privilege of pursuing it. Though I’ve always had a passion for writing as far back as I can remember, I lost touch with that part of myself for a really long time after grade school and college. When I realized my forgotten love for it, I also rediscovered an abundance of inspiration and motivation, but since then I’ve settled into a more subdued state of creativity and productivity, a slower but more constant kind that I’ve come to appreciate just as much. 

I know that even though I miss the late nights and the excitement that came with them, I’m grateful to be in a steady place of familiarity that comes with time and practice. My day to day life might be more demanding now than it was back in the early days, but I see that as a prioritization of life and creative balance, a sign that I’m living a more well-rounded and fulfilling life all around. This lifestyle also allows me to miss writing, so that when I do return to it, I’m able to channel that creative excitement and energy into something worthwhile, old or new. 

Whether it’s editing something I’ve written for the umpteenth time or starting the creative process anew with an unexplored idea, I still find joy and solace in what I do. And as I prepare for the biggest life change in my adult life so far, I’ll remember what I told myself at the beginning of this year: I can still do what I set out to do while maintaining proper balance in work, life, and love. I won’t lose my favorite creative pastime again—that part of me that I thought I would never get back once upon a time—just because things are going to be different from now on. 

If anything, this change will make me work even harder to realize my dream, making every spare second count in my new life. Now I just have to leave this place and make it all happen. 

There’s no going back. 

Ready or not, the time is now.