"It's a Beautiful Life"- Genevieve Galvan Frenes

Writing has always continued to be the fuel for my soul. It is the part of me always quiet and calm, even as the many thoughts spinning in my mind create a new story or analyze a character in my brain. I have been this way since I was a child, always busy and wanting to learn more about the world, myself, and others through the craft of writing. It is my life source.

A year ago, my life turned upside down with the unexpected death of my father. I was changed in a way that most people who’ve suffered a loss will understand, and those who have not, will simply say, “I’m sorry for your loss.” They don’t know what to say, and although their words are sincere, they just don’t get it.

It’s one of those situations which occur where, as my husband has told me, “you have to go through it to truly understand how hurt someone can feel” after losing a parent, a child, a friend. I didn’t understand, and like many, when it finally came my turn last August, I was forever changed. Then, and only then, did I fathom the pain my husband was speaking of. It was the similar pain which he had endured many years prior with the death of his father.

I was changed not only by the loss of the one parent who truly loved me, but I stopped writing and simply tried to survive. I have always loved the gift of writing; however, it was too much to bear to pick up a pen and journal and just start again. Just to breathe each day took effort, and a fog of sorrow persisted throughout the year. The projects I had started were frozen in time, and it wasn’t until almost a year later, that the urge to begin again, to get those words flowing, has come back to me.

However, it still isn’t the same.

My eyes look at life like a scientist through a microscope, trying to see every fine detail of what lies before me, and my emotions now exist separate from the logic I once knew. Yet, there is hope that my experience with life, death, and the afterlife will guide me once more to creating what I feel is a connection to the essence of my writing, which is my soul. I have found that in every experience, both good or bad, joyful or sorrowful, God has guided my writing to bring me to a place of peace. And although I do write with a cautious pen, never trying to hurt anyone in my path, I do know that there will be moments when some may not like what I have to say. Nonetheless, I will continue.

I will never cease writing what is in my heart.