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Caution: Mermaid Crossing
This blog (including pages of interest as an author/speaker/workshop presenter)
is a companion to my upcoming collection of essays titled,
Caution: Mermaid Crossing, Voyages of a Motherless Daughter - Passing through a sea of adversity,
she overcomes a life unimaginable by crossing into the world of ethereal beauty and mermaid magic.
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Amplifying Women's Voices: Understanding the Barriers to Their Representation
It is International Women's Day today, March 8th 2026. Due to back & shoulder issues, I didn't make it to the March. I will use my voice in my monthly blog. As I sit before the screen, I've been listening to Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Alicia Keyes, and Olivia Rodrigo, all powerful, poetic women who use their voices for good and beauty. These women also speak up and out for women's rights and freedom. The Resilience photo above was taken ten years ago at the Women's March in o

Valerie Anne Burns
Mar 8


Forgiveness, Faith, and Fantasy
Forgiveness holds a unique power to change lives. It can heal wounds, restore relationships, and open doors to new possibilities. When combined with faith, forgiveness becomes a foundation for personal growth and resilience. Adding fantasy into the mix allows us to imagine new realities and embrace hope beyond the limits of the present. For many of us, the present brings great challenge to make space for us to hold onto faith and forgive while we witness dark and dangerous ti

Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 10


Copy of Copy of Exploring the Concept of Wish Fulfillment in 2026
Wish fulfillment has long been a fascinating topic in psychology, spiritually, literature, and popular culture. It refers to the satisfaction or realization of desires, dreams, or hopes, often through imagination, fantasy, or external circumstances. As we move deeper into 2026, it is worth examining how the idea of wish fulfillment is evolving in our rapidly changing, chaotic and troubling world. This post explores wish in the New Year and how our heart and mind manifest. Sym

Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 5


Copy of Exploring the Concept of Wish Fulfillment in 2026
Wish fulfillment has long been a fascinating topic in psychology, spiritually, literature, and popular culture. It refers to the satisfaction or realization of desires, dreams, or hopes, often through imagination, fantasy, or external circumstances. As we move deeper into 2026, it is worth examining how the idea of wish fulfillment is evolving in our rapidly changing, chaotic and troubling world. This post explores wish in the New Year and how our heart and mind manifest. Sym

Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 5


Exploring the Concept of Wish Fulfillment in 2026
Wish fulfillment has long been a fascinating topic in psychology, spiritually, literature, and popular culture. It refers to the satisfaction or realization of desires, dreams, or hopes, often through imagination, fantasy, or external circumstances. As we move deeper into 2026, it is worth examining how the idea of wish fulfillment is evolving in our rapidly changing, chaotic and troubling world. This post explores wish in the New Year and how our heart and mind manifest. Sym

Valerie Anne Burns
Jan 6


Embracing Solitude: Thriving as a Single During the Holidays
The most sentimental time of the year is upon us. As lifelong romantics (guilty) and those of us who are single, the holidays can inspire a roller coaster of emotions... even fairy tale fantasies. The trick is to create your own rituals. Certainly, if you have family then life becomes full of gatherings. But for those of us who are truly solo, our friends are our family. That said, friends can be busy with their own spouses, families, and traveling. If a single person would l

Valerie Anne Burns
Dec 12, 2025


Breasts and Autumn
Another trip around the sun and thirteen years since my diagnosis, six years of which lost in an intense ordeal to gain a healing. I...

Valerie Anne Burns
Oct 11, 2025


I Don't Know
I'm so ready for a magical escape somewhere far away preferably a remote island with a pristine ocean to swim, snorkel, and sail. In...

Valerie Anne Burns
Sep 12, 2025


My Interview With Voyage LA Magazine
August is nearly upon us. In case you missed my interview with Voyage LA Magazine published in July, I'm enclosing a link. They contacted...

Valerie Anne Burns
Jul 30, 2025


I Want To Sail Far, Far Away...
Sailing in Caribbean waters is taking up real estate in my mind. It's a blissful escape I am in desperate need of in these times. As an...

Valerie Anne Burns
Jul 12, 2025


Authentic and Unfiltered
I can only be me. I was taught to be strong and independent as early as a three-year-old. In many ways it's a burden but it's my nature....

Valerie Anne Burns
Jun 11, 2025


Mental Awareness Month-Yikes
I'm not altogether sure I've been aware that May involves a whole lot more than Spring, Mother's Day, May Madness, and New Beginnings! My...

Valerie Anne Burns
May 22, 2025


Woman in a Golden State
Here I am in my (slightly filtered) golden state and ironically just published in an anthology by the title of Women in a Golden State...

Valerie Anne Burns
Apr 16, 2025


Women's History Month
Let's March Our Hearts Out Women are resilient and powerful beyond measure. Let's face it--we'd be 1000% better off with Kamala Harris in...

Valerie Anne Burns
Mar 13, 2025


Valentine's Day and Galentine's Day
It's that time of year again where you see hearts in all forms everywhere you look: retail stores, doctor's offices, business offices,...

Valerie Anne Burns
Feb 14, 2025


All I Can Manage
In what I find as the most baffling, disappointing, sad, and outrageous time to live in this country, I decided to share a poem instead...

Valerie Anne Burns
Jan 28, 2025


'Tis The Season to Be in a Bubble
Merry Everything to all. We have a month before we need to brace ourselves so why not be in the holiday spirit and a hazy denial bubble?...

Valerie Anne Burns
Dec 18, 2024


Can Anyone Tell Me How to Do it?
Nature has been my spiritual practice. I've wanted to believe that being one who seeks beauty will continually provide a way to step over...

Valerie Anne Burns
Nov 22, 2024


Survivors are Strong
Once again, we are in the month of October and the last week of Libran birthdays. As a breast cancer survivor, I have far too much...

Valerie Anne Burns
Oct 14, 2024


Birthday Train
No matter how much I've wanted to delay the speeding train toward my big birthday this year, it arrives at the station on September 29th....

Valerie Anne Burns
Sep 27, 2024
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