I used to think progress would feel like clarity.
Like waking up one day with a sense of purpose so strong it would knock the doubts right out of my chest.
But it didn’t.
When I finally stood at the threshold of doing something I had convinced myself I could never do—write fiction—I didn’t feel ready. I felt sick. My hands were shaky. My mind was loud. My inner critic, who normally whispers, was screaming.
And yet… I did it anyway.
Because here’s what I’ve learned: the moment right before you do the thing you’ve always been afraid to do is often the moment you feel the most lost.
You’re in uncharted territory. Your old maps don’t apply. The stories you’ve told yourself about who you are and what you’re capable of start to unravel. And what’s left is silence. Fear. The unbearable feeling of not knowing.
We don’t talk about this enough.
We celebrate breakthroughs, but not the breakdowns that come right before them.
In Agatha’s Garden, I call this The Overgrown Path. It’s the part of your journey where nothing makes sense yet. You’re moving forward, but every step feels tangled. You’re exhausted, not because you’re weak, but because you’re growing in ways your body, your nervous system, and your soul aren’t used to yet.
And here’s the part I didn’t expect:
On the other side of that path? It wasn’t fireworks or fame. It was something softer.
It was the quiet recognition that I had stopped abandoning myself.
It was the way my breath sat lower in my chest. It was the way my voice stopped shaking when I said, “I’m a fiction writer now.” It was watching someone else read what I wrote and whisper, “Me too.”
That was the reward.
Not the achievement. The alignment.
I built Agatha’s Garden as a story, a space, and a living metaphor to explore what it really means to grow. It’s part fiction, part guide, part reflection on what happens when we stop waiting to feel ready and start walking anyway.
If you’re on the Overgrown Path right now—if you feel overwhelmed, unclear, or like something big is shifting but you can’t name it yet—you’re not alone.
This path doesn’t mean you’re lost.
It means something important is about to begin.
🌿 I’m writing my way through this garden, one seed at a time. If you’d like to walk with me, I’d love to have you along. Subscribe here to join the journey.
SUBSCRIBER (PAID) BONUS:
The Garden has many corners.
Each one tells a story about where you are and what you’re growing through.
Want to know which part of the Garden you’re standing in right now—and what it’s trying to teach you?
🌱 Subscribe to receive the bonus reflection piece: “Where Are You in the Garden?”
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to AuDHD in Translation to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.