Author Archives: keriannebaylor

Isn’t the passage of time funny? You catch a glimpse of the sun one day and it is covered in clouds the next.  december 3, 2022I’m crying on the 119 bus right now. It’s Saturday. My grandma is in hospice care and it feels like I’m losing my dad all over again, somehow. Losing theContinue reading “Damu”

I recently learned the difference between happiness and joy. Brené Brown defines them in her new book Atlas of the Heart: “Based on our research, I define joy as an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation.” Meanwhile, happiness is “stable, longer-lasting, and normally the result of effort. It’s lower in intensity thanContinue reading “Joy”

This year has unfolded with a specific kind of delightful unexpectedness. I’m leaning in to surrender to its beauty: the art of saying ‘yes.’ Life in limbo has taught me even more about cultivating a practice of presence, of showing up to unanticipated moments when they arise. Which is why we, of course, said ‘yes’Continue reading “Salinity”

It was quiet at Shuk HaCarmel when I arrived in Tel Aviv. Closing time in the evening: market stalls that normally showcase the day’s freshest produce and sweetest treats were empty.  There is peace in the way darkness and light are intertwined. I thought about this while walking through the market: the contrast allows spaceContinue reading “Shuk HaCarmel”

I peered out the plane window as we descended upon Navarino Island. Hovering over an isolated expanse of Chilean Patagonia raised the hairs on my neck. We were entering an unforgiving, yet magnificent landscape. Untouched and enchanting and terrifying for an amateur hiker like me. I had only heard of Navarino Island a few monthsContinue reading “Unpredictable”

I relish the moment I shut the light off on my nightstand and am left with the open sky. It is endless through my bedroom window. Clouds move swiftly, planes even more so. An exhale, a pause, a moment to let the day go. In the morning, I have time to stare out my windowContinue reading “Stillness + Sky”

I return to the yellow iron steps that will carry me to the top of Barnegat Light. They twist and curve around the center pole, spiraling upward like a moon shell. I learn about myself from a new vantage point: Barranquilla, Maceió, Havana, Santiago. I now find myself taking higher ground in a lighthouse aboveContinue reading “Barnegat Light”