The Colors Change, and So Did I

By Liesa Witt · Published 2026-10-11 · Updated 2026-10-11

Autumn in New York, a hard start to the year and what it taught me. On burnout, starting over, my first Broadway show and finding my way back to joy.

Autumn arrived in New York this month. The trees in Brooklyn are turning, the light comes in lower, and the days are getting shorter. I love the colors. The lack of sunlight? Honestly, I struggle with that one.

This year the season feels like more than a change in weather. Let me tell you why.

Where this year started

I’ll be honest with you. This year didn’t start the way I wanted it to. I was burned out and deeply depressed.

In January I was exhausted and sad, and I put on a smile every day and told people I was okay. Not so they’d worry less, mostly to convince myself. I wasn’t okay, not even close.

Slowly it started to show up everywhere; in my personal life and then in my professional life.

I probably could have seen it coming. But once you tell yourself everything will be fine, you start believing it. So I ignored the signs and pushed harder.

Around the same time my biggest client and I parted ways. Now there was fear on top of the sadness and the exhaustion.

That was the turning point. I needed a change, a new perspective so I did the only thing that made sense to me. I went online, booked an AirBnB and spend a month in Panama.

Traveling and tropical weather are my form of therapy and it helps me to finally slow down and create room to breath when the air gets thin.

So there I was in Panama City, recharging and getting ready to attack again. I will tell you a bit more about that beautiful country and what I have experienced there a little later. This experience definitely deserves a separate post, so more on that another time.

What the hard part gave me

Looking back at the last ten months, I can see something I couldn’t see in January.

The struggle was doing its work. Everything I went through, everything I learned, and the extra bit of fight I found in myself is starting to pay off. This year turned out to be a turning point, and a lot of that grew out of the hard part.

I don’t usually share much about my love life. But finding a partner who inspires me to grow has been one of the most beautiful things this year and deserves to be mentioned too.

So let's get back to business ;) After facing NYC without having any source of income that would be worth mentioning, it took just two months to land a new engagement. This is amazing considering the restrictions one without a green card faces finding work here. Thus, let this story be a reminder to everyone out there who is struggling to find work. When someone in my position can do that within such a short period of time, you can too! So go out there and make yourself proud.

That' snot all tho. Even better, considering my entrepreneurial side, I finally have mental room to test my own business ideas. I’m building, trying things, changing things, and I’m finding real joy and energy in it again. It is the most rewarding and energizing thing ever. You know why?

Because this time I am building for someone, I am building to solve someone's pain and it brings me an immense amount of joy because I can better their life.

Tourist in my own city

This month long term friends from Germany and Tel Aviv came to visit, and for a few days I got to be a tourist in my own city. Almost four years in New York, and I finally saw my first Broadway show. Can you believe it? It only took me almost four years to get my ass up and see a broadway show. It's not that I couldn't have done that all along by myself tho... Anyhow, we went to Aladdin and it was truly amazing. This experience inspired me to actually do these kind of things more often and not just think about them and move them from month to month.

So here I am, in Brooklyn, it is raining outside and home looks a little different these days too. Brooklyn is my home, no question. But I’m spending also a significant amount of time in New Jersey. And dear NYC-friends, yes Jersey and let me tell you something, it is nice and I have the most amazing Manhattan skyline view :) So it is okay to love New York City, love Brooklyn but also find a liking to New Jersey.

Here’s to a rainy autumn day, and to the colors that helped me say what I couldn’t quite put into words before.

Things change, and sometimes that’s exactly the point.