Before I Forget — The Story Behind the Stories

When the words began to pour out of me, I didn’t understand what was happening. There was an urgency I couldn’t contain — as if I were late for something sacred. My fingers could not type fast enough to capture the visions flashing through my mind: memories, emotions, conversations, moments I thought I had long forgotten.

I called the collection “Before I Forget.” At the time, it felt like a poetic impulse — a race against memory. But now I see how prophetic it was.

Just a few days earlier, while working on our chickens’ new condo, I had hit my head — hard — against the barn door. I brushed it off, but that knock opened more than a bump. It unlocked a hidden door inside my brain — a little treasure chest of stories that spilled open like a Pandora’s box within me. Out came my life — unfiltered, colorful, raw — demanding to be seen and remembered.

Following my accident with the door, I went to the doctor for a regular check-up. They advised me to get some vaccines, so I did — all in one visit! Well, after that came the wild side effects: headaches, fever, chills, exhaustion. I completely forgot about the bump on my head and blamed everything on the shots. Days later, when the headache wouldn’t go away, I finally touched my forehead — and there it was, a huge bump! Alas! I figured it out. My head wasn’t spinning from the vaccines alone — it was still recovering from the impact.

When I paint, I connect to my higher self — a world of color, fantasy, and illusion where I feel most alive. Art has always been a sacred language to me. But now, I can also see the stories that were hidden deep in the ocean of my mind. They rise in no particular order, like different personalities — each with its own light and color. I believe they come forward when they are ready, asking to be seen, to be heard.

These stories will have a voice — through me.

And now, I’m going to have fun with this unlocked gift.

Let’s see who shows up!