A review of a year

It’s still January 2026 and I have recently been thinking back over 2025. What a year personally, and for The Healing Path itself.

I bought a house and some land which I never believed until recently was going to be my reality. I had reached a point in life where I felt all that had passed. It has been a wonderful adventure. I have met new friends, worked at skills that I had not used so often in my life and had many challenges and frustrations.

The electricity in the house works brilliantly, but the design is awful. The infrared heating is great in some rooms and not great in others. They system itself was badly installed so there are some uglies that need to be fixed. It’s possible some of the radiators were not the correct ones for the rooms involved or were placed in the wrong spots. It’s also true that the house is not properly insulated yet nor are some of the windows draft proof. I have a set of 3 lights in the corridor that all come on at the same time. I have light switches for reading lights on my bed but they are on the same side of the bed which of course makes no sense. The fuse board ( and this is my fault) is in the kitchen in just completely the wrong place on the wall. I have reached out to an electrician to come and remedy these issues and others and he basically refused. So I have had two electricians this year who have done work that was shoddy and didn’t listen to me. I will wait , nothing around this is urgent.

My solar panels are good, the battery is just a waste. It’s 5 kw. So while it might during summer account for electricity used in the house while everyone is sleep, during a day it’s useless. I should have gone for about 10 times that volume of battery and there is no auto switch to the battery on the rare occasion that the grid goes down. The company that installed the system in June didn’t do anything about the legal paper till November and only because I harrassed them. So I have produced about a thousand euros of electricity for the EDF and got no return. At least from end of April to end of Sept there is no real cost incurred in the consumation of electricity but winter has been expensive.

I am making lots of progress again in the kitchen. I have painted the brown tiles black, and slowly the vynil wallpaper is disappearing. The next couple of days will see some wall repairs and some paint applied to the really old cabinets. I have priced making my own kitchen and trying to reuse some of the material present and it will come in at around 600 euros which is pretty cheap considering. I also have to imagine a new floor.

On the list of things to do , is to finish the insulation in the attic and install a floor, do half the kitchen, and strip and paint the corridors. When I have all of that done, it will be time to sit down and budget a way forward to improve or add what ever is required. I haven’t gone for perfection, just for functionality and some of my work has been less than stellar but I am okay with that. The house is beginning to look good and is comfortable.

My Msc in Psychology has proved a little challenging. I failed a paper and had to resit at the same as doing another module in tandem and thankfully I passed both. I was then diagnosed with Clinical Depression, ADHD and some autistic tendancies. That’s a lot to swallow in a short spell of time. It helped to make sense of the life I have led up to now and events and situations that seem to repeat. It was both confusing, and a relief. I have been digesting this information and just trying to allow it to sit. The university have been a great help. I have one more module ahead of me for my degree then a thesis and I have no real concrete idea for that, I am sure it will revolve around addiction.

The Healing Path had it’s first pathfinder. A program was laid out. There was an agreement for a 2 month stay which was adhered to and at the end the pathfinder decided it was right to return home and take another path. During their time here, they were provided with psychological support. A second person came for a shorter time, and definitely drew some good from the experience. I have recieved messages of gratitude and support from the original pathfinder, and reassurance that they are living a sober life. What more could I ask for? The goal is really to help people heal. Some people come here for a night, or a weekend, or a week or a month. Each of them lives the program as laid out to the best of our ability. In total we had about 3 months worth of stay overs in our very first year which is not bad. People came and slept ate, meditated and worked and talked about spirituality and sobriety.

Slowly I am integrating to the community. I am well liked and respected. I help out where I can. I walk my talk. I pay attention as best I can, to live a clean authentic life. I am making friends and developing a personal support network and that is always a good thing.

I have been avoiding social media. Some of that is confidence or lack of. I have a feeling of why would anyone want to know what the hell I am doing or why? Some of it is a strong reluctance to give any creedance to social media. It’s moved from a tool of connection to a place of commerce and the propagation of ideas that are neither spiritual or productive or positive. I have no interest in watching people get shot, in seeing people take off their clothes to solicit money, in listening to people complain about the state of the world from a place of priviledge and do nothing about it. I am sure there is a lot of good in social media, but it’s addictive. How can I have a social media presence without being addicted or feeling obliged to post due to an algorithim? There are also some issues with this website, the paypal doesn’t work for example, and I need to devote time to get that fixed. I have had some great help from people and finally commenting got fixed on the posts.

So when I look back on this almost full year , I find that despite any difficulties or challenges , it has been a beautiful experience. Living in Averyon is a dream come true. As a friend of mine told me many years ago, Nice, is not like the rest of France. It’s true. Had I landed here first 23 years ago my initiation into French culture might have been a lot easier, however I also realise perhaps I was just ready to come here when I did. I have no regrets. I have seen and lived amazing experiences this year and I have recongnised a huge amount of support.

I am keeping my eyes on the goal of a fully operational Healing Path as described in my vision. I am unclear as to my next steps and if social media is a way forward. I do have a bunch of men, visiting here for a weekend in March. That feels very significant. I am choosing to trust my higher power and stay open. I have a feeling that finishing my masters and the house updates are important steps on this journey. My next concern after that is getting enough organic materal for my planting which will happen very soon. I need to plan my garden. Hopefully I will be a bit more productive and ready this year than I was last year.

I’ll keep you all posted. 🙂

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March 9, 2026