TAYLOR ENGLE ANDERSON BRAIN

The world feels loud, fast, fractured, irreparable. Still, kindness always finds a way to stubbornly break through. This is where I try to keep my focus.  The other day at my favorite coffee shop, a woman in a wheelchair fell forward onto the floor. Before the shock even had time to settle, three or four people were rushing to her from different corners of the room. No hesitation: just movement.  I think about that moment a lot. It’s what gives me faith when the light feels d

the dreamer who remembers everything. Pisces is the archive: the final chapter of the zodiac, the one who carries the memories of every other sign. We can feel the fire, the earth, the air, the water. We’ve been the warrior, the lover, the critic, the visionary, the rebel. Now, we are the witness. I say “we” because, hellooooo! Big Pisces energy, and I can confirm we are the wisest sign: quietly aware, seeing the pattern before the pattern even knows it’s there. We feel the s

Writing is isolating work. It is solitary by nature. It requires you to sit still and live inside your own head for long stretches of time. It’s a beautiful thing, but it can also be intense and overwhelming. When I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a writer, full stop. I imagined a life of books, quiet rooms and endless drafts. But over time (and into a 10-year professional writing career), I have realized that full-time writing demands a deep interior life. You have to

After winter’s contraction, spring arrives as a physiological uprising: light returns, sap rises, soil softens. The world moves from preservation to possibility. The follicular phase mirrors this exactly.  Biologically, the follicular phase begins on the first day of menstruation and lasts until ovulation. Estrogen rises. Energy builds. The brain becomes more verbal, more curious, more socially oriented. There is often increased motivation, clarity, and a desire to initiate.

My husband and I spent much of our honeymoon slamming back lattes in Kona. We chased the scent of parchment coffee drying in the sun, using each day (and all of the miles on our rental car) to lazily make our way up the coast to the local farms.  As a result, coffee in our home is a ritual: our quiet language of care for one another. Before the world begins asking anything of me, Shaun grinds whole beans and pulls espresso while I am still wrapped in a blanket and halfway ins

Featuring Psychic Tarot Reader Lex Love month felt like the perfect time to sit down with my favorite witchy woman to ask the questions we’re all asking around self-love, boundaries, momentum, and intuition. For this first installment of Interviews with a Psychic, I asked Lex to tap into the energy around love, self-respect, and what’s unfolding next. Taylor: What is the energy around self-love right now? Lex:   Walking away from anyone or anything that has made you feel left

Aquarius characters are observing the room from the corners.  They are rarely interested in being liked. Instead, they are interested in being understood.  This workshop is designed to help you write an Aquarius character in real time. Not as the cliché eccentric or aloof genius, but as a layered, human presence shaped by independence, vision, and the tension between detachment and longing. What Is an Aquarius, Really? Aquarius is an air sign traditionally ruled by Saturn and

“What does a soulmate feel like?” asked The Skeptic Who Wanted to Believe. She answered with a bright smile she couldn’t contain:  “It’s the eternal bottom of an exhale.” She means ultimate release:  Giving everything away, everything you have,  with the trust, with faith, with belief that it will return to you— And then doing it again the very next day.

In the long gallery of medieval Europe, few went as hard in the paint as Hildegard von Bingen. Born in 1098 in the Rhineland, she was a Benedictine abbess (can any of us say the same?), visionary mystic, composer, natural philosopher, medical writer, and political correspondent at a time when women were rarely encouraged to be anything at all. Hildegard did not so much transcend her era as bend it, using its language of faith to articulate a defiantly original intellect. She

Capricorn characters are rarely loud on the page. They don’t announce themselves: they arrive already prepared. They are builders, strategists, keepers of time and consequence. If other signs burn bright, Capricorn endures. This workshop is designed to help you write a Capricorn character in real time. Not as a stereotype, but as a layered, human presence shaped by ambition, restraint, and the quiet pressure of responsibility. Grab a notebook and let’s get into it! What Is a

This is a fiction piece, inspired by losing my father in 2021. As he was leaving his body, he ludicrously, deliriously asked us to help him escape the hospital so he could go on his own terms. That didn't happen—but in this story, it does. I submitted this piece to a writing contest. It was not accepted, so I’m taking control of my voice and publishing it here. I’ve stopped treating rejection as a verdict. I’m less interested now in knocking on doors and more interested in le

Creativity doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens in different rooms, seasons, moods, and small moments.  It happens at kitchen tables and park benches, in crowded cafés and quiet bedrooms at midnight.  Sometimes it shows up when you invite it. Sometimes it sneaks in when you stop trying so hard. The environment we write in shapes not just what we create, but how we access it. Our words are influenced by light, sound, pressure, people, and even how safe or seen we feel in the

When someone says “forgive but don’t forget,” I don’t hear an instruction to harden myself or keep score. I hear an invitation to value myself. To be loving, but also firm about what is healthy and acceptable for me. Forgiving and forgetting doesn’t feel loving. Forgiving while maintaining necessary boundaries does. That distinction matters. Forgiveness, at its best, isn’t about erasing the past. It’s about choosing how the past gets to shape you. Memory as protection For som

I’ve never had one writing playlist. I have many: for different moods, different tasks, different versions of me. I love music. It’s essential to me, a big part of how I move through the world. I’m a Pisces, so my life often feels like a movie soundtrack. Music is emotional for me. It sets the tone, it changes how I experience time, and it definitely  affects how I work. So instead of having one go-to “writing playlist,” I choose my music based on what I’m working on and what

If self-publishing is a marathon, the holiday season is the stretch where the crowd thickens, the music gets louder, and everyone starts handing out water and snacks. Readers are buying, algorithms are paying attention. Gift cards are burning holes in digital pockets! And yet, many indie authors drift into November like it’s just another Tuesday.  The holiday season is one of the biggest opportunities of the year for self-published authors—especially those willing to prep ins

2025 has been the best year of my life. It began with a quiet decision: to finally step out of the corporate world that had pressed me flat for years. I had begun to feel like a diluted version of myself, defined by someone else's ever-changing rubric. Leaving felt like slipping out of a costume I never realized I was wearing. The relief was immediate. Once I reclaimed my space, the rest of my life rushed in to fill it. In the past year, I taught over 200 dance classes. I’ve

Every holiday season, I find myself returning to the same questions:  What does care look like in my body right now? What does nourishment feel like? How can food be more than just food? This is especially top of mind as I continue to navigate life post-anorexia. So when I heard about Culinary & Cannabis ’ Infused Thanksgiving Side Dishes class, led by nurse, pastry chef, and wellness advocate Tamara Anderson, I was intrigued to learn more.  As someone who healed from anorexi

Winter creeps in slowly, draping the world in gray light, longer nights, and a magnetic pull toward blankets and hot drinks.  Despite the joy of the holidays, this season can feel like a challenge. Energy dips, motivation wanes, and the usual spark of inspiration seems to hide beneath layers of cold air and early sunsets. But winter isn’t a death sentence for creativity. It just requires a different rhythm and level of focus. Just like the seasons outside, our bodies, minds,

So you launched your book. You posted, you emailed, you celebrated…so, now what? One of the biggest myths in self-publishing is that all of the sales happen during launch week. In reality, most authors who sell consistently are playing a long game, and the launch is just the beginning. Let’s talk about how to keep your book selling months—and even years—after release. The Power of Evergreen Marketing Evergreen marketing means creating content, systems, and pathways that conti

How storytelling connects you to your deeper self. Writing has a way of pulling the most surprising things out of you. It’s why I’ve always been so drawn to it as a form of expression: it’s a bridge to your inner life, a way to connect with your higher self and bring clarity, balance, and creativity into your everyday. One of the most powerful ways I’ve deepened this practice is through morning pages, which is part of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way . Every morning, I sit do