Dear 2020

To say that 2020 has been a difficult year is an understatement. I’d like to say that the tagline for 2020 was “You sucked” but there were grains of light within all of the turmoil.

I think it’s a year that tested a lot of people. We had to learn to adapt to a new and frightening situation, something that threatened our health and our homes. The Covid-19 pandemic changed a lot of lives and it took a lot of them along the way. I had to learn to be even more careful than I was, adapting along with the rest of the world to wearing masks and to the new safety protocols that we all have to follow.

This has been a year of sacrifice. I couldn’t travel, I couldn’t see my family and friends. I spent a lot of it feeling cut off from everyone. It has been a year that has been filled with so much unrest, violence and discontent. For me, 2020 has been a year that has tested the human spirit over and over again. We’ve been called upon to change our lives and adapt to a new way of living.

However, it’s also been a year filled with gifts. These gifts had no physical or monetary value. Every video chat I had with a friend or family member was a gift. Every time I received a card from someone or an email was a gift. I found that during this year, I was reminded time and time again of when I first had my MS diagnosis and had to learn what to really be grateful and thankful for. This year has taught me a lot about myself and what I’m truly capable of and I’ve learned new stills along the way. It has been a year of personal growth and though I may have taken a step backwards occasionally, I always found a way to move forward again.

Though my depression has been a lot more evident throughout the year, so has my joy. Though I’ve struggled with fatigue and other personal issues this year, it was also filled with moments that sparkled and have filled me with light. Below, you will find the moment of joy that filled my year and made it sparkle so brightly.

January

In January of this year, I learned that my first stepfather passed away. This may not seem like a moment of joy, but it was. He had been suffering for some time with what turned out to be brain cancer. I took his family name when I was eighteen and I gained a family along with it. His passing taught me to not take any moment for granted, no matter what the circumstance. It reminded me that every life is full of cycles and though some may be more difficult than others, every moment should be celebrated.

We also welcomed Anakin into our lives who came home on January 2^nd. He was so loving right away and quickly made himself at home. He has become such a joyful part of our lives and it feels like we’ve had him forever. It’s hard to believe that it hasn’t even been a year since he came home!

February

My new poetry collection was published! It sold really well making it to the number four spot on Amazon! This collection of poems contains every poem that I’ve written for my wonderful Husband. I had always wanted to do a collection of love poems and the time seemed right now one. I had no idea how much this collection would help me and help others during this year. I read poems live from the collection on Instagram and it filled with world with a bit more of the love that it needed. It was very well received, too! You can get your copy here: https://www.amazon.ca/When-Think-You-Jamieson-Wolf-ebook/dp/B084D948Q1/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=When+I+think+of+you&qid=1609271773&sr=8-17

March

My novel Starboy – The Scent of Desire was published by Cobblestone Press. It’s the second book in the Starboy series followed by The Color of Love. In The Scent of Desire, Alexander and Troy join a group of rebels to stop an oncoming war. Get your copy here: http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/scentofdesire.html  

This was also the month that Covid-19 really became a concern. I started working from home full time for what I thought would be a two-week period. If we only knew then what we know now…

April

Thin Places, the Ottawan Anthology, was launched from Broken Keys Publishing. It contains my short story Finders Keepers. The anthology was well received and I couldn’t be happier to have my story included in the anthology. You can get your copy by clicking here:

May

Nothing Without Us, the anthology of own voice stories, was nominated for an Auroa award. It ultimately didn’t win, but that doesn’t matter. It brought more exposure to an anthology of stories that it very much needed in the world. My story The Descent was later reviewed by ‘Nathan Burgoine who had lots of nice things to say about it. https://apostrophen.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/short-stories-366169-the-descent-by-jamieson-wolf/?fbclid=IwAR12ij-tc4L0P87kCUPqxvs7dPxjjZcc8NhUzsmRrus6NFT9Ic9-wifFt0A

You can get your copy of Nothing Without Us by clicking here:

https://renaissance-107765.square.site/product/nothing-without-us/117?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true

I also finished writing The Queen of Swords, my novel that tells the story of The Fools Journey from the Tarot. It went into edits right away and I’m so thrilled that I was able to finish a novel during a pandemic!

June

In June, my novel Love and Lemonade won the Best GLBTQ+ Book of 2019 from LR Café! How amazing is that? It was a surprise to be nominate and a wonderful and glorious thing to be nominated. It was such a difficult novel to write, tying up storylines from all three books, but ultimately it was a joy. You can get a copy of the award winning Love and Lemonade here:

https://renaissance-107765.square.site/product/love-and-lemonade-by-jamieson-wolf/123?cs=true

I also had the honour and privilege of being put on a Tarot cards! The Harley Spencer Tarot deck is an amazing work of art and a lot of the cards feature real people. It’s very fitting that I was put on the Five of Cups. It’s all about the release of negative emotions and I’ve been holding on to so much for so long. You can read more about my thoughts by clicking here: https://spirit-of-the-wolf.com/2020/09/12/the-5-of-cups-and-letting-go/ and learn more about the Harley Spencer Tarot Deck here: https://www.hs-tarot.com/

July

I got a new tattoo! This Head Space Tattoo was done by the incredible tattoo artist Dom Barbeau. It tells a story for me. The crystals in front of the mountain tell of the spirituality that I found within myself that enabled me to climb the mountain. I call living with Multiple Sclerosis and Cerebral Palsy climbing the flat mountain. Being able to climb the mountain, to accept the journey that I am on no matter how difficult it is, has enabled me to find the light that shines within and colours the world that I see. Getting a tattoo by Dom was a complete and total pleasure. She was awesome!

You can learn more about Living Colour Tattoo and Dom by clicking here: https://www.living-colour.com/dom-barbeau

August

I had my 42^nd Birthday! It was a very laid-back Birthday. Normally, Michael would have taken me on a trip somewhere, but travel to distant places was a distant memory by this point. So we had an at home birthday celebration which was totally fine and lovely. My beautiful Husband got me a new office chair! It was such a welcome gift, especially since I was working and writing completely at home.

September

In September, Michael and I went to Perth. I hadn’t been anywhere for the whole year and I also hadn’t been to Perth since the early days of my childhood. We had such a lovely time and I had so much fun delving into all the shops that they have there. My favourite shop was a little store called ShadowFax. It’s kind of a metaphysical store. I was able to pick up the most gorgeous Amethyst and a breathtaking Angel Aura Quartz! I can’t wait to go back. You can visit Shadowfax online here: https://shadowfax.on.ca/

October

The print version of Thin Places was published and Finders Keepers is released in audio format. It was so neat to hear my story read out loud by the talented and wonderful Paul Atkinson. Broken Keys Publishing had different people read the stories within the Thin Places anthology and it was so awesome to hear the story brought to life. You can listen to my story Finders Keepers here: https://youtu.be/gfP3cvF_QB4

November

In November, I had the honour of being interviewed for the Coming Out of the Tarot Closet podcast. Seth was an amazing interviewer and we talked about Tarot, life and everything in between. It was so much fun delving into my Tarot journey. You can listen to the podcast here:

Coming Out Of The Tarot Closet With Jamieson Wolf

December

I write a novella as a gift to all of my readers every year to celebrate Christmas. This year I knew that I wanted to write about the pandemic in some way. When I sat down to write the story, I was surprised that the main character was a Tarot reader and she reads for clients online much as I do. The story ended up bringing me a lot of joy and when it was done, I felt a sense of accomplishment. A Very Tarot Christmas is a novel about a snow-demic, finding joy and also finding yourself. You can download it here for free: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1059007

So contrary to what I thought the year would be like when Covid hit, this year has been full of a lot of joyful moments. Yes, it has been filled with a lot of moments that did not bring joy, like having my first Covid test (thankfully negative!). However, it was filled with so much to be thankful for.

2020 has taught me so much and as I look toward 2021, I know that it too will be a year full of personal growth and expansion. I’m so looking forward to saying goodbye to 2020 and welcoming the beginning of 2021.

Sparkle on everyone!