Deana Sanders
@deanasanders.bsky.social
Career clarity seeker, essayist, and lover of quiet symbolism. I write about legacy, resilience, and the story our objects tell us.
Currently reading: *War and Peace*
https://cadenceandecho.substack.com
Currently reading: *War and Peace*
https://cadenceandecho.substack.com
My Top 6 Reads of 2025
Ressa for courage.
Tolstoy as the year‑long through‑line.
Gilbert for mosses and the long view.
Pittard for civic grief and aftermath.
Henry V for grit and mortality.
Nicholls for warmth and humanity.
#YearInBooks #2025Reads #Booksky #FictionAndNonfiction #BookLover
Ressa for courage.
Tolstoy as the year‑long through‑line.
Gilbert for mosses and the long view.
Pittard for civic grief and aftermath.
Henry V for grit and mortality.
Nicholls for warmth and humanity.
#YearInBooks #2025Reads #Booksky #FictionAndNonfiction #BookLover
December 31, 2025 at 4:44 PM
My Top 6 Reads of 2025
Ressa for courage.
Tolstoy as the year‑long through‑line.
Gilbert for mosses and the long view.
Pittard for civic grief and aftermath.
Henry V for grit and mortality.
Nicholls for warmth and humanity.
#YearInBooks #2025Reads #Booksky #FictionAndNonfiction #BookLover
Ressa for courage.
Tolstoy as the year‑long through‑line.
Gilbert for mosses and the long view.
Pittard for civic grief and aftermath.
Henry V for grit and mortality.
Nicholls for warmth and humanity.
#YearInBooks #2025Reads #Booksky #FictionAndNonfiction #BookLover
The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert
Alma Whitaker studied mosses — quiet persistence, overlooked resilience.
Her life mirrored evolution: competition, survival, the will to endure.
The Signature of All Things surprised me, but I really liked it.
#booksky #historicalfiction #botany
Elizabeth Gilbert
Alma Whitaker studied mosses — quiet persistence, overlooked resilience.
Her life mirrored evolution: competition, survival, the will to endure.
The Signature of All Things surprised me, but I really liked it.
#booksky #historicalfiction #botany
December 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert
Alma Whitaker studied mosses — quiet persistence, overlooked resilience.
Her life mirrored evolution: competition, survival, the will to endure.
The Signature of All Things surprised me, but I really liked it.
#booksky #historicalfiction #botany
Elizabeth Gilbert
Alma Whitaker studied mosses — quiet persistence, overlooked resilience.
Her life mirrored evolution: competition, survival, the will to endure.
The Signature of All Things surprised me, but I really liked it.
#booksky #historicalfiction #botany
Not a poinsettia, not a pine. Just a cactus that knows when to show up.
December 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Not a poinsettia, not a pine. Just a cactus that knows when to show up.
Refracted Revolution — my essay on watching Ken Burns’s American Revolution, layering Outlander fiction and my own travel maps. The truth bombs hit differently as an adult.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/refracted-...
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/refracted-...
December 4, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Refracted Revolution — my essay on watching Ken Burns’s American Revolution, layering Outlander fiction and my own travel maps. The truth bombs hit differently as an adult.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/refracted-...
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/refracted-...
New dispatch: Spirit and Splendor at the Blanton: A Quiet Reckoning
I went to the Blanton for art. I left metabolizing empire. A quiet museum visit, threaded with dynastic overlays, emotional yield, and sovereign resonance.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/spirit-and...
#art #Spanishhistory #museum
I went to the Blanton for art. I left metabolizing empire. A quiet museum visit, threaded with dynastic overlays, emotional yield, and sovereign resonance.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/spirit-and...
#art #Spanishhistory #museum
November 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New dispatch: Spirit and Splendor at the Blanton: A Quiet Reckoning
I went to the Blanton for art. I left metabolizing empire. A quiet museum visit, threaded with dynastic overlays, emotional yield, and sovereign resonance.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/spirit-and...
#art #Spanishhistory #museum
I went to the Blanton for art. I left metabolizing empire. A quiet museum visit, threaded with dynastic overlays, emotional yield, and sovereign resonance.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/spirit-and...
#art #Spanishhistory #museum
Visible Empire settled in like summer heat: slow, deliberate, and emotionally layered. Grief, inheritance, and awakening.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/visible-em...
#VisibleEmpire #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook #GriefAndInheritance #SouthernLiterature #Booksky
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/visible-em...
#VisibleEmpire #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook #GriefAndInheritance #SouthernLiterature #Booksky
October 23, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Visible Empire settled in like summer heat: slow, deliberate, and emotionally layered. Grief, inheritance, and awakening.
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/visible-em...
#VisibleEmpire #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook #GriefAndInheritance #SouthernLiterature #Booksky
cadenceandecho.substack.com/p/visible-em...
#VisibleEmpire #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook #GriefAndInheritance #SouthernLiterature #Booksky
Fall, in three voices.
Strings, percussion, harmony.
The patio held the score. I just showed up.
Strings, percussion, harmony.
The patio held the score. I just showed up.
September 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Fall, in three voices.
Strings, percussion, harmony.
The patio held the score. I just showed up.
Strings, percussion, harmony.
The patio held the score. I just showed up.
Setup begins. No finish line—just the first step.
September 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Setup begins. No finish line—just the first step.
Still in transit. The space waited.
September 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Still in transit. The space waited.
Legacy, dusted. Input waiting for cadence.
September 18, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Legacy, dusted. Input waiting for cadence.
No centerpiece. Just presence.
September 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
No centerpiece. Just presence.
No cabinets yet. The stove held what it could.
September 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
No cabinets yet. The stove held what it could.
Clean surface. Warm food. The return begins.
September 18, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Clean surface. Warm food. The return begins.
Chip at the bowl. Not displaced. Not dramatic. Just home.
Substack drops on Sunday.
Substack drops on Sunday.
September 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Chip at the bowl. Not displaced. Not dramatic. Just home.
Substack drops on Sunday.
Substack drops on Sunday.
Knives placed. Rhythm restored. Drawer ready.
September 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Knives placed. Rhythm restored. Drawer ready.
Door opened wrong. Cadence off. Held the line.
September 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Door opened wrong. Cadence off. Held the line.
Blue tape, black frame, nails still visible. Not finished. Not forgotten.
September 4, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Blue tape, black frame, nails still visible. Not finished. Not forgotten.
Before the cabinets arrived, the rituals still held. Placement mattered. Even the liner was chosen.
September 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Before the cabinets arrived, the rituals still held. Placement mattered. Even the liner was chosen.
Joy arrived unexpectedly. In light, in flight, in a museum filled with air and wonder.
August 21, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Joy arrived unexpectedly. In light, in flight, in a museum filled with air and wonder.
Recovery, but make it operational. Between Paris planning and pension spreadsheets, this desk held the weight of reinvention.
August 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Recovery, but make it operational. Between Paris planning and pension spreadsheets, this desk held the weight of reinvention.
My senior stakeholder, fully committed to the recovery phase. Strategic rest, feline approved.
August 21, 2025 at 2:02 PM
My senior stakeholder, fully committed to the recovery phase. Strategic rest, feline approved.
The horizon. No horizon. This was the first page.
August 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The horizon. No horizon. This was the first page.
The glow returned before comfort.
August 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The glow returned before comfort.
Crystal never broke. Plastic remained. Elegance, revised.
August 7, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Crystal never broke. Plastic remained. Elegance, revised.