That’s what I keep saying to people when they ask how my recent trip home went.

“The Muses were kind.”

And they were. I just didn’t create anything new.

What they did was inspire me, blew new air my way and awaken me from within as if I had been sleeping. It helped that I attend the 6th annual and FINAL Edward James Olmos Latino Family and Book festival. I saw my old friends who knew me before I was Icess Fernandez, journalist. They knew me when I didn’t put periods at the end of sentences. It was pretty awesome.

And it was nice to see friends and enjoy Houston like a native instead of a visitor. I miss home even after nearly six years of not living there, and the more I’m away the more I want to be back. You can take the girl out of Houston ….

The city empowers me creatively and makes me feel all things are possible, dreams come true, and that the world is your oyster. Don’t know why it does; Houston is not Paris. But for me it’s life and I could only wish that one day I’ll live there again.

Again, the Muses were kind.