Where Have I Been?

Dear Reader,

If your only point of connection with me is through blog updates, you may be wondering why I haven’t been posting as much as usual, and use this space mostly for Wondercrew Wednesday posts!

The truth is, I’m still posting quite frequently, just in different ways and places!

My health conditions have progressed rapidly in the last couple of years, to the point where I can no longer eat anything at all. (I get my nutrition pumped directly into my jugular vein every night, how badass is that?!) In addition to not being able to taste my culinary creations anymore, I’m also needing to spend a lot more time in bed, which has meant shifting my priorities and my working style.

Sadly, gone are the days when I could go out foraging for hours, then spend a long time in the kitchen processing my foraged finds, cooking them into something special, plating that delightful creation, and photographing it all in a single day! I’m very grateful I was able to find ways to create the recipes I have shared here over the years. Right now, I am in the process of finding a publisher to publish my first book! My dream is to have a series of four books, broken up seasonally, containing all the magic I’ve been sharing over the last few years (plus some secret treats that I haven’t even posted!) Lots of my time is going into this goal, and I’m sure I’ll be quite busy once the editing process starts too. :) I will definitely continue to post updates about this project here to keep you in the loop!

I’m also no longer able to design elaborate Fairytale Gatherings and share them with strangers. It’s far too difficult to predict how I’ll be feeling on any given day, and I just don’t have the energy or wellness to share wonder in this form anymore. Truthfully, it’s been a huge struggle for me the last few years (especially factoring in the pandemic and safety concerns related to that), and each event I’ve done has taken a huge toll on my health - I often spend weeks recovering from just one day of magic. It’s with a heavy heart that I release this practice of magic-making, with the hope that someday I will be well enough again to return to it.

Meanwhile, more time in bed has meant a new fixation on ceramics, which I am able to work on from bed on my little over-the-bed table. Working with clay is a helpful distraction from the pain on bad days, and it’s something I am still able to do even on days when getting up and moving around very much is out of the question. I’ve really fallen in love with the medium and always have several projects on-the-go, always inspired by the wonders of nature! I’ve started filming my process a lot more and making videos about the creation of my pieces from start-to-finish, which I share on YouTube. Here’s an example of one that I finished recently!

(With lots more videos in the works!)

As for food, I’ve started a couple of new projects. When I feel up to it, I have been collaborating with my fiancé on our project Wonderstitcher Fairytales - I come up with a fantastical recipe, they write a story inspired by it, and then we put together a photoshoot to illustrate the story and recipe. These are pretty big productions so I am only able to do them when I’m in a really good spell, so we haven’t been able to do many. But we’re considering simplifying the process a bit to focus the photoshoots more on just the food (rather than building elaborate sets or costumes). Regardless, most of what we share is in video content, such as this:

And finally, I decided to put more of my energy into things that truly make me happy! At the top of that list is 1. surprising my fiancé and seeing their reaction, 2. making simple baked goods that are special in some way, and 3. sculpting tea sets. This has turned into a ritual of sharing outdoor tea parties with my love, featuring more accessible treats and giving my handmade tea sets a chance to go on a little adventure with us! I chronicle these in video format, which I share on my social media: TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram , then I usually share the recipes for the treats on Patreon. I put a lot of energy into cultivating communities in these spaces and often share works-in-progress, recipes I’ve posted in years past, and candid posts about life, love, and activism.

Life is made up of a series of chapters, and the chapter of creating detailed foraged recipes accompanied by thoughtful texts and rituals is coming to a close. That doesn’t mean the book has ended, though! I’m grieving the loss of the level of health I used to have, but I’m also always looking for wonder in other places. The format may change, but one thing is certain: I will always find some way to make and share wonder. I hope you enjoy being along for the ride! Thank you so much for your support and interest in my work; it truly does mean the world to me.

And as always, everything I do is made possible by the generous support of my wonderful Wondercrew! Their monthly contributions allow me to create the recipes, videos, posts, and other surprises that I get to share with all of you. As a severely disabled person, I don’t know what I would do without such a fantastic support system. I’m tearing up thinking about how grateful I am for all of you.

Thank you for being here.

Magic Always,
Miss Wondersmith

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