For the first time, I used my nature wildlife photos I took each month to reflect on the energy and messages in them to help me more easily reflect and write about my transformative journey this year.

See My Year In Review on Instagram Here

Videos and Photos: Elicia Miller Photography
Song: Isaac by Madonna

“Will you sacrifice your comfort?
Make your way in a foreign land”

Jan: Two Macaws holding wings, represents the support I was getting from others to fly.

Feb: The moonrise and the next morning’s sunrise over the ocean, shows the view from our dream home that I love, more of my comforts that I would be leaving. It also has Yin Yang energy, the feminine masculine, and the light and dark forces at play.

Mar: A solo weekend away to a new place up the coast from where we live, this sunset photo from my Airbnb reminds me of Africa, a foreign land.

Apr: I told Doug I needed to fly, meaning I needed to leave and spread my wings alone to different places. At that moment, 12 Macaws flew towards me and then above me on our patio. This Macaw came solo on another day and showed me the Phoenix Rising.

“Wrestle with your darkness
Angels call your name
Can you hear what they’re saying?
Will you ever be the same?”

May: I followed my intuition to spend a month (which then became two) to the Caribbean side, the opposite coast, of Costa Rica. As you can see, the Macaws are different on the Caribbean. This image represents spreading my wings and landing in a foreign land where everything is different.

June: After two months of deep healing and grieving, I made the difficult and painful decision to uncouple from Doug. This sloth came to me the week before I left the Caribbean. I love sloths and this image carries the open invitation to come back.

“Remember, remember, never forget
All of your life has all been a test
You will find a gate that’s open
Even though your spirit’s broken”
-Isaac by Madonna

July: For the first time in 15 years, I returned to my childhood town and teenage home in Syracuse, NY. I moved away when I was 17 years old, and visited my parents in Syracuse very briefly after I moved away to college, and then to other states and countries.

I had not been back since they divorced 13 years ago. I was invited by my Dad to come stay in his (our) home where I lived from 12-17 years old. This was a very healing and integrating time for me as I reconnected to my teenage self and my best friend Christy from High School. I slept in my room where I used to listen to Troy by Sinead O’Conner obsessively about a boy who I was infatuated with and who wasn’t good for me. Christy and I used to sing Sinead together, and Sinead died while we were together in the same house. Mind-blowing synchronicity. My time in Syracuse was profoundly healing. This image is from the Art Park that Christy told me about. It’s a bee pollinating Echinacea, heath boosting flower and a life giving act.

Aug: I was in no rush to get back to Costa Rica to make the hard move to pack up my things from our dream home and take one of our two dogs with me so I decided to spend some time in Atlanta with my best friend Jocelyn. Atlanta was always my US home base, I lived there off and on for 20 years. I moved away 5 different times, returning each time before the next move. I took this photo of the deer on one of the daily walks with Jocelyn around a lake. The deer embodies gentleness and wisdom, independence and creativity. All of the non-stop synchronicity in Atlanta infused me with energy and integrated important parts of me and my connections throughout the years. I could write a whole short story or even a full book about the 2 weeks I was there in August.

“Open up my heart
And cause my lips to speak
Bring the Heaven and the stars
Down to Earth for me.”

Sep: I moved across the country to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica with my dog River aka Baby Puppy @babypuppyshow This Caribbean Collared Aracari Toucan was the first bird to come to me at my new house. The aracari is a sign and message to stand powerfully in all that I do. Speak, act and think from my power.

Oct: Turns out I moved to the only town in Costa Rica where the full solar eclipse could be visible. People planned and booked a trip to my town a year in advance for this special cosmic event. I walked with my friend, Baby Puppy and my camera across the street to the beach. When I set up my tripod and camera I realized that I couldn’t see the sun through my lens and a guy down the beach a little came over and offered his extra solar filter for me to be able to capture this photo. An Angel bringing the Heaven and the starts down to Earth for me.

Quote from Anne Frank
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.”

Nov: I had been missing watching the sunset rise from our ocean view house that I left, and it is more effort here to take my camera to the beach. After 2 months in my new home, I finally took my camera to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was so peaceful, beautiful and filled me with joy.

Dec: After a few destabilizing months alone, I have settled deep within myself and my new home. Recently, I ate lunch at one of my favorite restaurants on the beach and had a deep conversation with a friend. Nature started to interact with me more again in that moment, a green Macaw flew to a tree directly in front of us, a giant iguana was in a tree next to the Macaw, and a sloth was hanging above my bike. Then, I came home to see this sloth in the photo hanging in a tree next to my gate, reflecting the contentment that I feel. Only recently have I started to see sloths, and I feel at home and content.

With so much love,

Elicia