Reshaping Grief and Loss

Over the past few days, I've felt a sadness that I can’t quite articulate. I'm writing a multigenerational novel that follows the intertwined journeys of families as they confront trauma, uncover hidden truths, and discover healing through connection with themselves, their ancestry, and their spirit.

While I’ve been writing full-time for the past six months, this story, its outline, and the characters are ones I've spent years developing. Although the characters aren't based on real people, they feel very real to me. They speak to me and convey the story they want the world to know. One of my characters will die in the chapters I’ll be writing next.

I’ve learnt that writing scenes requires me to delve deeply into my soul—the good and the bad that have shaped my life. I now recognise that the sadness I feel is an accumulation of the losses I’ve faced. These are not easy places to revisit. But I’m also learning that by returning to the areas of grief and loss, I revisit the spaces of healing that followed. I get to shape and mould not only the loss and the healing but also the person I’m still becoming. That, in itself, feels like a gift. I'll remind myself of this as I begin my next chapter.