A Mountaintop Moment (& BIG News!)
The painting above has always been one of my favorites. It's 'Wanderer Above a Sea of Fog' by Caspar David Friedrich, painted in 1818 during the German Romanticism period. I saw it on a postcard as a teenager and it immediately spoke to me. There was something about staring out at the journey ahead with all its known and unknowns, valley moments with mountaintop glories that felt so relevant to life. I had the pleasure of enjoying it in person at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany years later and even have a life-sized print of it in my own home. It came to mind when I sat down today and had a moment to reflect on this mountaintop moment I find myself in!
Having taken a moment to count how many poems (and especially, Japanese short-form poems) I have published or are currently scheduled to be published through various poetry publications in the months ahead, the total number currently stands at 63. 63 published poems by the end of this year (and hopefully more to add to that number as I wait to hear back on a few submissions!). That's a huge success rate, especially considering I only took up my pen and paper again just 1.5 years ago. So much of that hard work was done in those foggy valley days (as you see in the picture) with uncertainty about whether it would go anywhere. I'm overwhelmed by the number of editors, poets, and publications that have enjoyed my work so much to help share it with the world. Thank you to all of them (and you can see who they all were under the 'Poetry' tab!)
Quick note: Some of my poems have been self-published but those were not included in the count. 63 published poems only include those chosen to be published by poetry publications, festival events, and journals.
Secondly on my mountaintop moment, and this is a big announcement... I have a debut poetry book coming summer 2025! If what I haven't put out there in the last 1.5 years isn't enough, by next July you'll have the opportunity to read a book solely dedicated to newly written free-form poetry; 60+ poems on my journey to motherhood; touching on themes of joy, grief, womanhood, identity, healing, faith, hope, and my experience as an immigrant. It's an incredibly personal collection of work and I'm both terrified and impatient to share it with the world. Alabaster Leaves Publishing has locked down the contract with me and I couldn't be more excited. Huge thanks to the team there for taking the leap with me!
So this is me, a wanderer, standing atop a mountain that God led me and I worked hard to climb, pausing a moment to reflect on where I've come from and enjoying the views ahead; some certain, some foggy, but all beautiful on this wild creative journey.
Soli Deo Gloria
Sophia