The cowboy in the picture is me… before the world got to me.
I was abused for six years of my childhood and didn’t grow up with much safety at all. And I carried that into adulthood, like a lot of us do, often quietly, sometimes not even realising it.
It took me years to unlearn, relearn, and figure out who I was beneath all the noise.
I’ve always been drawn to the Old West. Wide open spaces. Big skies. The idea of freedom, self-reliance… and maybe, if you’re lucky, finding a small campfire where it feels safe to just be.
That’s why I wrote Reflections of a Cowboy, and it’s exactly why I’ve created 1871: A Time Before.
Not because I’m nostalgic for the past, and it’s certainly not about squeezing reflection into a textbook or a meeting room.
But because sometimes, to figure out this life, the one we’re living right now, we need to step sideways into imagination, into story, into somewhere safe.
Somewhere that lets us pause, breathe, and ask: “Who am I - before the world told me who to be?”
Some of us have to imagine safe places… because the real ones don’t exist, and I know many people quietly carry similar stories to mine, so if this resonates, just know that you’re not alone.💚