The Story of the Scared Witch

I started to entertain the idea of having my own website quite a while back – a couple of years ago, at least. At the time, I was deeply immersed in exploring the spiritual world. I played with Tarot cards, read about the soul, energies and the unseen layers surrounding the mundane. I felt a strong need for a space where I could gather and share what I was learning – a place that felt personal, safe and honest.

At the same time, I was navigating a growing sense of insecurity related to my job. I work in software engineering, and I thought that learning how to build websites might be useful – perhaps even as a potential backup source of income. One of my web designer friends generously gave me a crash course: where to get hosting, how to buy a versatile WordPress theme, how to start building something from scratch. I’m deeply grateful for that help. I laid down the first bricks, slowly, carefully – but progress was painfully slow. Looking back now, I realize my heart wasn’t fully in it yet.

Not long after, I was pulled back into the familiar carousel of work and life. The website, along with the hidden world I loved so much, quietly faded into the background.

Then, earlier this year, my world came tumbling down.

What would prove to be one of the hardest years of my life began with a massive layoff at the tech company I was working for. I kept my job, but my team took a devastating hit. It felt like the career I had worked so hard to build was crumbling – along with any fragile sense of security I had left. A few days later, I got sick. Fever, chills, pain all over, a relentless cough, trouble breathing. One morning, I simply couldn’t get out of bed to take my daughter to school.

Lying there, exhausted and scared, I thought long and hard about my life – past and future. About my skills, my talents, and how I could possibly monetize them. About the need for a backup plan that would allow me to support my daughter no matter what. The desire to have something of my own became more urgent than ever.

Once I recovered, the first priority was survival. I needed stability. I started interviewing – a tantalizing challenge and a deeply humbling experience in its own right. After months of uncertainty, I finally accepted an offer from a thriving company. Slowly, things began to fall back into place. It felt like my moment had finally arrived.

This time, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I wanted to write.

I started researching Amazon KDP and the publishing process. Although I had ideas suitable for children’s books, I decided to begin with something simpler – a low-content book, a way to learn the process before aiming higher. A coloring book, but one with meaning. Something reflective. Something intimate.

And what theme could be more fitting than the witchy world I have always loved?

There were ups and downs. Moments of intense frustration while learning to use Midjourney for image generation and Canva for editing and layout. But despite everything, it took me just two weeks to write the book. With the exception of the time my daughter was born, those were the best two weeks of my life. Rarely have I felt as alive, as present, as creatively fulfilled as I did during that time.

I published the book just before starting my new job. It became a quiet milestone – a marker of transition, of courage, of a new chapter beginning.

And finally, as the year began to wind down and I allowed myself the gift of rest, I found the drive to return to the website I had started two and a half years ago – and bring it back to life.

So here we are.

The Scared Witch is now live, and I hope it is only the beginning of my literary journey.

Sometimes, the things we abandon are not lost — they are simply waiting for us to become brave enough to return to them.