Begin Again: The Return of Dreams, Power, and Forward Motion

There are moments in life when we can truly sense a shift happening. It may be quiet at first, but it's unmistakable: something stirring from within. A sense that your inner landscape is changing, even if the world outside looks the same (for now).

Lately, I’ve been feeling this change with a clarity I haven’t felt in years. After a long chapter defined by stillness, healing, and surrender, there’s a new energy rising in me…a steady momentum finally starting to build. A door slowly opening. Trust and joy returning.

This week’s coloring page was born from this shift — my own take on The Fool archetype, infused with Horse Year energy and the mantra that grows louder in me now:

Begin again.

Horses have always been special to me—I haven't gotten to know many, but I was obsessed with them as a child.

The Return of Power: Horse Year Energy Rising

Ready or not (we're all ready, right?), we are closing out 2025—a 9 year, Year of the Snake—which was all about closing cycles, shedding what we can't carry forward, and dying before we die. This part of the cycle shakes us. It's uncomfortable. but it's necessary.

Now we are entering the Year of the Horse, a 1 year. In numerology and the Chinese zodiac, the Horse carries the energy of freedom, movement, forward momentum, intuition, and strength. To me, it feels like a slow but steady wind returning to the sails.

I have never felt this shift in energy from one year to the next as keenly as I do now. It's subtle, still unfolding. But it feels like the wall I've been running into for years is beginning to open into a doorway. Little things are coming into alignment. And boy, have I needed that.

I'm sensing a return of my power. Physically and spiritually. Creatively and energetically.

This is not to say the healing cycle is over. I'm not sure that work ever ends. But hope, joy, and inspiration are slowly returning, and with them, my dreams.

The Return of Dreams — Sleeping and Waking

One of the strangest things chronic illness took from me was my dreams.

For years, I wasn’t dreaming at night at all. It seemed like my body was just in in survival mode. The deeper parts of mind and imagination were quiet, conserving energy for basic functioning.

But something beautiful has been happening lately:

I’ve started dreaming again. Silly dreams, travel dreams, symbolic dreams. My brain has been processing so many things all at once. I've always been a vivid dreamer, and I love how meaningful they can feel. It's such a relief to enter the Dreamtime realm again.

And not just during sleep.

I’m starting to dream in my waking life, too. Chronic illness, Epstein-Barr virus, has a way of taking that from you. I spent years believing my life was over. I was certain: I was either going to die soon or be trapped in that state of nothingness forever. There was no impetus to dream.

Recently, though, I've felt a reigniting of possibilities, visions, ideas that feel alive. The kind of dreams that pull you forward instead of feeling out of reach.

Light Haven Studio is one of those dreams. It's something that feels good and in alignment.

And I'm realizing that making puzzles is another. When I had my first artwork made into a puzzle recently, it lit up something in me I didn’t even realize had gone dormant. There was joy in it. A spark. A sense of, Oh… I want this. I want to create worlds people can hold in their hands.

(Click to play the video) I was SO delighted at how fun this puzzle is! The drawing was perfect for it. Thanks PuzzleYou—great quality!

I also remembered that I once drew and hand-cut a puzzle (with scissors!) as a gift for my college boyfriend. I have no idea why I thought to do that. But maybe it was foreshadowing.

It feels like my dreaming self — both the sleeping and waking one — is guiding me toward what’s next. This feels like a true sign of healing.

Introducing This Week’s Coloring Page: “Begin Again”

First, I want to acknowledge that I didn't make a coloring page last week. it was the first time in two months that I didn't complete and post a drawing—pretty rocking!

I did start one. But, honestly, it was out of a feeling of obligation. Not because I think people are waiting on the edge of their seats for my work. Because I want to be consistent. But I didn't like the drawing. It had no feeling to me.

What that showed me, though, is that I also have to honor the flow of my creativity. These drawings are coming from a place of emotional depth. I'm processing huge energy shifts. I can't fake them.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. I was sitting here reflecting on this shift I have been noticing—in my energy, in my dreams, in the opportunities I'm (finally) being shown. In the excitement over my puzzle.

It dawned on my how significant of a moment this is. I reflected on the coming new year, the Year of the Horse. I listened to videos about big astrological shifts going on. And I knew — this was not a temporary glitch. These feelings of joy and inspiration are warranted.

A new chapter is unfolding—now. The rebirth is beginning. This is a huge moment. It made me think of the Fool in Tarot. Beginning a new journey, fearlessly. Not naive, but brimming with trust. Yes, new challenges will arise. But now is the moment for moving forward. It's horse energy.

Symbols woven into the page:

• The Horse — representing power, movement, courage, and the return of vitality.

• The Rider — stepping into a new chapter with trust, carrying only what she needs.

• White Roses — purity, spiritual freedom, and new beginnings.

• Masks and old objects on the ground — identities and stories shed during the healing years.

• The Snake — honoring the end of the old cycle, the completion of the Snake Year.

• The Dog — intuition and companionship, the call of inner consciousness.

• “Begin Again” — a mantra and quiet blessing as we embark on a new path, always upwards.

• The rising sun-mandala — illumination, joy, new beginnings, and spiritual clarity.

Closing Thoughts

A new chapter doesn't ask us to be ready. It just asks us to be willing. Just like the Fool, we can forge ahead with trust and an inner knowing that it's time.

This drawing is that reminder for me. And if you need it too, it’s yours. It's live as a free download now.

Here's to power and dreams returning. To forward motion. To beginning again.

With gratitude,

Christine (Chi)