Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. For this week’s Mermaid Monday blog post, I will be reflecting on the growth of my life and business over the last year, in honor of my birthday tomorrow! As a side note, my Patreon members already had access to this post on Friday, as I gave them early access to my reflections for their Patreon exclusive post.
Each year, I love to do some work to reflect on just how far I have come in my life over the last year. I do these types of reflections during milestone times of life, but they are the most potent around my birthday, as that is looking back on one full year of my life, not a year from the last holiday or from launching my website, for instance. Each Solar Return we have ends out one year of life and welcomes in another year of life. I always feel filled with joy and gratitude, for I love my birthday, even as an adult. After all, I believe that instead of bemoaning the fact that you have gotten another year older, I believe in being grateful that you have achieved new things and lived another year. We should all be grateful that we are still here and can still have the opportunity to live more life! That is why I am always so eager to reflect on the events of my life, as they happen. During milestone times, I like to look back over the last year, or last season, to gain insight on the patterns of my life. I choose to share them with my readers because I think it is a beautiful practice to share the gratitude, and I also hope it inspires others to do something similar.
Now, this past year of my life has been quite wonderful. It is the second full year that I have been working on my business full-time without a day joy stealing my attention and energy. In fact, the anniversary of White Rose of Avalon Online Shop is on September 13th! That brings me to the first thing that I am grateful for, and that is the growth of my business. It is still a very small business, but there is a slow and steady growth that I am thrilled by. I am also beyond grateful for my husband and his support in every way through all of this! In the Winter, I worked on Lessons from Celtic Mermaids so that I could launch that new class in the Summer. I also spent time working on bonus materials for the second year of The Melusine Mysteries, which leads perfectly into 2026.
In January, I had a devotional poem to Melusine published in The Tor Stone, the Sisterhood of Avalon’s online magazine. I also had an essay on Melusine published in the new edition of Voices from the Grove. In the Spring of 2026, I had the honor of speaking at my first-ever online conference, the Water Priestess Confluence. I could not have asked for a better first experience as a speaker, as this annual event held by Annwyn Avalon is quite prestigious, especially amongst Avalonians and Water Magick Practitioners! I loved getting to meet new people, hearing all of the other lectures, and teaching about Melusine to a broader audience. Then I enrolled my second class of The Melusine Mysteries in March, and also launched my brand new Summer class, Lessons from Celtic Mermaids. Over the Summer, I have been working on new offerings, including Mermaid Magick Spellworkings and The Grail Maiden Class. The Mermaid Magick Spellworkings will launch on September 13 for the two-year shop anniversary, and The Grail Maiden Class will open for enrollment on November 13th! I could not be more grateful for all of my students, and I am beyond excited to launch this new class in the Autumn.
This Summer, I also had the joy of performing in-person Tarot Readings at my local Pagan Pride Day Festival on Lughnasadh for the second year in a row. That event is always so wonderful, and I am delighted to have participated again. Getting to meet clients in person is always wonderful, and I am so grateful to be able to perform Readings in person sometimes in addition to my online Readings. Of course, the Summer, and the last weeks of the past year of my life ended with my husband, Andrew, taking me on a short Beach Holiday two weeks ago! As I had not been to the beach in far too long, this was the ideal way to enjoy the end of Summer and the last weeks before my birthday. It is certainly something that makes my Mermaid Soul sing!
Other than what I have been doing professionally, I have also had some wonderful times with Andrew and my best friend, Daisy. They are two of the most important people in my life, and certainly people I am beyond grateful to have in my corner! From fun times spent outside in the Spring and Summer to movie nights, even the small things are made better when spent with loved ones. I am really excited to see Practical Magic 2 next weekend, as Daisy and I have been anticipating this film since it was announced, which is why I did the book club on Patreon (and you can still access those recordings for a refresher on the books)!
So, yes, this has been another year full of new experiences and events that I am grateful for. I hope you have enjoyed reading my reflections on some of my favorite things that I did in this year of my life. What are some of your favorite experiences over the past year? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a photo from my birthday last year.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries