Tag: friends and family

My Cup Runneth Over

I’ve been blessed to witness some beautiful milestone moments in the past few weeks, and I can feel them filling my creative cup.

Editing and revising two novels this spring has been rewarding to watch them take shape, but it has also been months of scrutiny and finding alllllll the flaws. After a while, the intense focus on mistakes can be draining. It’s not as free as the creation process during a draft, and I think my brain craves that balance. But the good news is What I Would Do for You has finished the second round of developmental edits, Gybe has also been sent to my agent, and I’m starting week 10 of the Artist’s Way. I’m still not ready to begin prewriting my next book, but I can feel the ‘almost’. I’m in the brain-dump stage of scribbled notes and zero organization.

What’s really helped is focusing externally rather than internally. I’ve been looking outward to connect with friends and family—feeling joy with the arrival of new babies, love with wedding vows, and gratitude for bonds that have deepened over the course of more than half my life. I can feel my heart squirrelling away these overwhelming emotions, storing them for later and waiting to inspire certain scenes.

When I’m drafting, I live in my head a lot of the time. I don’t need to be drafting constantly, but it is something I’ve pressured myself to do since we moved here two years ago. These past weeks have been an important reminder to be fully present and not miss out, because this joy is essential to creativity. To everyone in my life—I’m so happy you’re in it and I love you so much!

Love,

Taylor

PS—Our milestone moment: the tipping point! Officially been doing life longer together than apart (17 years)

Tolo February 2008 (look at these babies!)
Olesen wedding June 2024

Pura Vida, Baby!

Today, I realized that it has been over two weeks since I updated the blog (gulp!)–time just got away from me!

These last few weeks I’ve focused on friends, community, and building a wonderful support network on side of the country. Conor was gone in 29 Palms for three weeks this August for an exercise (and just got back yesterday!), so that meant plenty of time for me to connect with friends, both old and new.

I’ve already made so many friends at our marina, people of all ages and at different stages in life: retired cruisers, veterans, parents with young children, and even fellow writers. Marina life is never lonely, and I always have to plan for 10-15 min extra time to get anywhere, as people always want to stop and chat on the docks. The staff always checks on me to see how I’m doing, and everyone is there to offer help/support/guidance. It really feels like a family. We all came together to celebrate Dawn this month, who has worked for NWC Marina for 25 years. Close to 100 people showed up, even people who no longer have boats at the marina but who just wanted to express their gratitude.

Scout and I also went on a road trip to Charleston, SC for my friend Bekah’s baby shower. We studied abroad in Costa Rica together almost six years ago and have kept in contact ever since. While we hung out over the weekend, it honestly felt like no time had passed since we were college students living the ‘Pura Vida’ life on the beach.

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From beach babes (circa 2011)…

baby shower
…to BABY!

I am SO excited for Bekah and her husband, and to meet ‘Little Man’ soon. I really believe that unique circumstances can forge unbreakable bonds between people, much like in the liveaboard community. We are all on an adventure together!

The craziest part was being in a house for the first time in months—everything felt so spacious and open. I woke up a couple of times in the night, wondering where the hell I was, why nothing was rocking, and why there was so much space above my head. I wondered if the boat would feel small when I returned from the weekend, and if I would have any regrets about our choice.

Not at all. Instead, I felt an overwhelming sense of returning ‘home’ after being away from the boat for the first time since we bought it. Any other way of life simply isn’t for me at the moment, which I was pretty sure of when we bought the boat, but now is beyond a doubt.

I will say, though, that home doesn’t feel complete unless Conor is here with me. Time away from your spouse is hard, whether it is for a 6 month deployment or just a summer exercise. I wish that we could set sail already and leave ‘grown-up’ responsibilities and time apart behind, but we still have to wait a few years for that.

Love,

Taylor and Conor