The first post went up on December 19, 2016. It was called Another year, another resolution filled with uncertainty, and it was exactly that — a woman at the end of a year with no plan, writing it down anyway because holding it in wasn't working.
That first post is still up, and I'm glad it is. Reading it back reminds me how much can change once you start telling the truth on paper — which is exactly why I keep writing, and why I made journals for anyone who wants to do the same.
What's actually in the archive
A life in progress. Letters to my son. A long stretch of affirmations in 2020, when a lot of us needed something to hold onto daily. Faith, quietly and repeatedly — I keep finding my way back. A birthday in Grenada. Choosing peace and a new life abroad. Healing, which took considerably longer than I wanted it to. And the hardest one to write, about getting out of my own head.
The blog started under a different name. Same voice, same habit, same woman working it out in public.
The rest of the week
Alongside the writing, I run Hello Leslie Creative under Ellise Luxxe Consulting® LLC out of New Jersey. That's the podcast, coaching, and web design and eCommerce work — the craft I've done longest. There are also two journals, because some of what I've learned belongs on paper rather than a screen.
You'll find those posts here too, in their own section. They're newer and more practical, and each one comes with something you can actually use. I'd rather give you instructions than encouragement.
Where the travel comes in
I was born in Trinidad and Tobago, and my parents are Grenadian. The Caribbean has never been a holiday to me — it's where I'm from, and the older I get, the more I want to be near that water again.
Lately that's become more than a wish. I'm travelling on purpose now and writing it down as I go: the deciding, the nerves, the first morning somewhere new. Grenada for a birthday. Tobago for Carnival. The Bahamas by sea. It's also becoming real work — I'm building the travel side of this out as a travel creator, so if you're a brand, a hotel or a tourism board, that part lives here.
The quieter part
My faith is in here, not as a sermon and not as a sales angle. Just present, the way it's been present in most of these years. I write about rest because I'm bad at it. I write about self-doubt because I know it by name.
If you've read this far, you're probably building something and tired and hopeful in roughly equal measure. That's the whole audience. Welcome — I'm glad you came.