A Piece of Eternity

Last Thursday I put my phone on airplane mode and set my life on monastery mode. I spent four nights – three full days – at a Benedictine monastery situated on a dairy farm in the hills above Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. I settled quite easily into monastery life, attending the many services each day […]

Off The Grid

Sometimes you need to go off grid to get back on track. For a while now, I have been feeling a strong need for a retreat, to practice stillness, to wait, to be rather than do. In her book, “When the Heart Waits,” Sue Monk Kidd writes, “Aligning ourselves – heart, body, mind, and spirit – into […]

Starting at the Beginning

Sometimes to move forward, you have to go back to where you started. Just shy of three years ago, I landed on the shores of New Zealand for the first time in my life, brokenhearted and barely surviving, but excited for the hope of healing brought by a new adventure. Sometimes you have to go […]

Operation Full Circle

Three years ago, I got my heart broken… shattered into dust. A few months later, I embarked on the trip of a lifetime to “Middle Earth” and the “Land Down Under.” This trip, an exercise in self-guided adventure therapy, marked the beginning of an epic journey of healing, rebuilding, and renewal. Three years later, I […]

That Fresh Feeling

As the sun sets on the last day of a rather difficult year, here’s a few good things worth celebrating…

The Final Stretch: Christmas Ode to Samwise Gamgee

A Christmas Ode to everyone who has been a Samwise Gamgee to me this year.

Recalculating

There was an amazing Jeep ad awhile back playing with the theme of Google Maps’ constant recalculating: “In 300 metres turn left… Recalculating.” “Go straight to a steady job… Recalculating.” (Woman looks at positive pregnancy test)… “Recalculating.” You get the idea. In the last few years of my life, I have had to do a […]

Epilogue

if i’m not the love of your life i’ll be the greatest loss instead -rupi kaur Last week, I got divorced. There, I said it. The D-word. How do I feel? It’s like a birthday without the cake and balloons… you don’t feel instantly different.

New Beginnings and the Business of Mould Breaking

Dear Friends, Readers, Fellow Mould Breakers, As 2018 begins I’ve made some important decisions and taken some exciting new steps forward. In short, I’ve decided to start the new year as Janelle Visser, and I’ve started a new website to be home to my personal, travel, and professional writing. I hope you will check it […]

An Open Christmas Letter To The Bestest People In The Entire World

Dear friends / family / fellow adventurers, I want to write you, personally, to thank you for the impact you’ve had on my life this year. I’m already crying before even getting into this letter, because although it may seem impersonal to write an open letter instead of scribbling a quick greeting in an individual […]