Tidbit to Threads No. 8

Ouch... I Hit My Head Again: When the Ceiling No Longer Fits

Its June 2026 can you believe it?!?

This week marks another big step for me.

This time last year, I was writing a post about the beginning of the new journey, titled ‘Ouch…I just hit my head’ after attending my first International Writers Conference in North Vancouver. I had just signed with TSPA (the self publishing agency) and I was smitten.

This year, I can solidly say’ it’s my second year😊.

Last year, I said the journey I was about to take that required ‘courage’.

This year, the journey requires standing inside my story and celebrating me. Nothing more nothing less…. unless I hit my head…again, which, honestly, seems to be part of my growth process now.

Side Note: I chose the focal picture for this Tidbit to Thread because it shows the dress, I wore to last years Author’s event hosted by TSPA the night before the conference was to start.

Last year, Megan the CEO of TSPA began a segment by using a metaphor that ‘writing was like entering a room; then filling that room….’

Which lead me to think of and borrow a line from Eat, Pray, Love — or more specifically,

from Richard, the character who famously asks Elizabeth Gilbert:

“What do you want, Groceries? A wishbone or a backbone?”

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth shared that she was heartbroken at the time, repeatedly saying:

“I wish. I wish. I wish…”

And Richard finally interrupted her with:

“You’ve got to stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.”

That line stayed with me.

Because somewhere along the way, I too decided I wanted to stop wishing and start living.

And apparently, that journey began with saying yes to a writers’ conference in North Vancouver… while carrying a pocketful of borrowed courage.

Courage and I go way back.

I’ve stepped onto many stages in my life; school stages, conference stages, healing stages, rebuilding-my-life stages. And almost every single time, courage has quietly shown up beside me.

I remember one of the first women’s meetings I ever spoke at in my early thirties. I was so nervous standing at that microphone that I was convinced everyone could see my bum doing its own version of the shakey-shake.

And to be fair… the women likely could, my whole body shook like a leaf in a windstorm.

I laugh about it now, but at the time I desperately wanted to speak and simultaneously wanted to disappear. My body had not yet caught up to my desire to use my voice.

Ironically, the topic I was there to speak about wasn’t courage.

It was about Breakthrough, Butterflies and the symbolism of Grace.

How fitting.

This time last year, courage was once again tucked into my pocket — both literally and figuratively — as I stepped not onto, but into, a new stage of life.

Last year, as Megan continued her metaphor: “picture yourself placing your hand on a doorknob and turning it. Beyond that door is another room — new people, new conversations, new opportunities, new growth…”

As it turns out, she was right.

This past year, I lived it.

Because if you continue growing, eventually even that room becomes too small.

Then another door appears.

Another next step.

Another becoming.

And sometimes, before you realize it’s time to leave, you hit your head on the ceiling.

This year, I will attend the conference not as someone hoping to someday become an author…

…but as a published author.

It’s been a wild, unexpected, deeply transformative ride.

And I am profoundly grateful that somewhere along the way, I discovered something I never knew I loved this much:

Writing.

Sharing.

Exploring.

Connecting meaning to memory.

Turning tidbits into threads.

And yes…

Now for my outfit.

Till next time.

Thank you for reading Tidbit to Threads: where small moments, insights and deep threads become a return to self-trust, reflection and healing.

Small moments. Deep threads. A return to self-trust.

Author of Velcro Kisses: prophecy, trauma bonds and Reclaiming narrative.