Writing about the ones we love
When I wrote my first book Hope for Healing, it took a long time to get started. I had a lot of doubt about writing it, if anyone would read it, if the story would resonate for anyone. When we question ourselves like this, we truly forget the impact we have when we touch one person’s life. That they then tell a few others and share with them what they learnt. That we end up impacting so many people, often without even realising it.
I have always been a writer. I have loved it for as long as I can remember. I made writing my career in the corporate world for 18 years, I wrote numerous blogs, journaled on and off and finally finished writing Hope for Healing at the start of this year (purchase the ebook here).
I knew what my next book would be about before I finished writing this one. I knew I wanted to write about relationships and how we have navigated ours for almost 25 years (21 of these married). I don’t want it to be a how to, but rather a this is how we did it and these are tools that worked for us. But I also know that hope will be woven through this story. I know in the darkest, hardest days that’s all that I had. I also want to write it as a celebration of where we are at now and how much we have grown together and individually in the last year. A continuation of our beautiful love story that revolved around struggle and beating the odds for a long time. A story now centred on growth, individuality and a deeper love and connection than we ever thought possible.
It is hard to write about those we love. It is hard to think about how they might feel/react to what we say. But our journey is not their journey. I know that my husband supports how I express myself and my journey and the fact that I share all the ups and downs. I want to normalise the more challenging parts of our relationships. The days and weeks that are really hard. I want to share the tools that we have both learnt and what we both discovered along the way, both individually and together. I wany him to share parts of his story too, his point of view, his struggles. I want it to be a merging of both our stories. And as always, I want it to be something you will read that will inspire you into action and change. That one sentence that strikes a cord with you. That tool you try that works for you. That’s what I want the most.
The next part is just starting. Not overthinking it anymore, not giving myself a constant deadline. Not making it impossible. My goal for the next month is to write whatever comes up. Not worry about structure or planning or chapters just yet. Just sitting down for 10 minutes at a time and writing what comes, even if it doesn’t fit together or make sense. After all, the lack of over-thinking and the act of doing is how I have done my best work!