I lost my job today. Unforeseen Mass Layoff season. And yet--- My soul is snuggled in a blanket. I am calm. I have options. I've faced worse odds with zero prospects and come out all the better for it. I have more cards in my hand, an extra deck up my sleeve, and more savvy than anxiety can rule. I am capable. I am Darby.

A nonchalant shrug and a smile. A steady, determined eccentric who can evenly swirl balance and that ever present tiny thrum of madness. A quiet cacophony of ideas, comfortable in the corner and somehow drawn to its center. Principle-ruled, where rules are made to be bent and rent and tied in knots; with respect, of course, and a cocked eyebrow to the rule maker.

I am not mystical. I am not the living embodiment of a Greek goddess, beautiful and deadly and majestic beyond reproach. I am Darby. A quirky quark of light, playfully bouncing here and there, flitting in and out of interesting spaces yet gently elucidate each corner, past the fearful shadows. In the background, but hard to miss.

Yes. Colorful upon dissection and wholly bright. Clumsily colliding with discarded curiosities, never satisfied to sit still. Wings and roots, as Heidi Priebe would say. Walking with the rhythm of the earth while humming a cosmos melody. Sincerely, Darby

A moment of self-discovery after a wild, unforeseen day.

#SincerelyDarby #WritersofBlueSky #TechLayOffs #ProsePoetry #CreativeNonFiction

#SincerelyDarby

His nose was a little red in the wind, slightly chilled with the dipping spring sun, feet plodding along with his beige-gray flannel shirt open to a graphic tee that rippled in the air. And suddenly he wasn't a ten-year-old, but an ageless being all his own. All outward masks banished, that red nose and small, toothy smile purely him.

In the wind, he is his own force of nature. Skipping along with no weight on his shoulders, no pressure squeezing his spirit, tamping it down like concrete, suffocating the spark that makes him incredible. He is a lion, all majesty and meekness. The swirling wind grounding him in his own nature that lives beneath the surface, flora growing and stretching and beautiful as the shimmering sea.

All within a boy with a wind-kissed nose beneath a smattering of freckles, walking a stone-strewn path headed around the bend.

One of those small moments that strips away time and gives you a glimpse of the whole person in front of you.

This time, it happened to be on a walk with my son.

#CreativeNonfiction + #Motherhood + #WritersOfBluesky

Funny how someone else’s random living-in-a-human-body noises can be comforting. The tell-tale clearing of the throat, crackling knuckles, the sniff he gets every spring. I write this next to Thomas as he lightly snores – not usual for him – unless he is sick or very tired or, in this case, both. It’s something we don’t really think about – these noises, these habits – and how they beautify our existence.

How much love in my heart for a tiny snore? If he wasn’t snoring, surely I wouldn’t miss it. I wouldn’t think to myself, Please snore, my love. That would be absurd! And yet his (no longer very light) snoring is comforting, sweet. A testament to years of listening to the sounds he makes. A whole world beyond speech I want to revel in.

How much love in my heart for a tiny snore? ❤️❤️

#SincerelyDarby #WriterSky #NonFiction #Memoir

New to Bluesky, only to find out I've been saying it wrong this whole time (Blue-Sky, not Blue-Skee. Silly, Darby.)

Here to connect with other creatives and build a platform around my creative nonfiction pursuits.

Cheers and good vibes all around.

Sincerely, Darby
#NewHere #WritingBlue

Absolutely beautiful detail! I just started learning watercolors and I didn't even know this was possible. Can't wait to see what else you do!