Gratitude Grist

Everything that happens is fodder for the creative process.  Good and bad, happy or sad.

A writer writes.  I'm a writer.  I write.  I do that.  So the things that happen to me are grist for gratitude. They can't help but be.  If I didn't write, I'd either shrivel up inside . . . or explode like a pressure-cooker with no pressure release valve.  I write about the good things and the bad things. 

Don't believe me?  then try out my blog and check out my archives. 
http://get-unwrapped.blogspot.com/

I must admit that more good happens lately than bad.  One of the reasons I e-published a book was to describe how I got from the majority of things being bad to the majority being good. . . and to invite others to join me on a journey into freedom from the chains of the past. 

When the first draft of my book was done, something bad happened. 

My brother died. 

When I wrote to my friends to tell them, I included a tribute to him.  One of them wrote back and asked me if I'd ever considered blogging.  Since bro had always wanted me to write a book, I thought to myself, "Why not?" and started the blog I just referenced.  I have a small but faithful following, but that's not the reason I write.  I write because I must.  Writers understand this phenomenon. 

And even through the grieving process and the changes in family dynamic, I learned to be grateful - and that in turn produced growth in my personal life, about which I could now write.  SO . . . I did.  Relationships, emotions, having faith, letting go.  I could communicate my message of hope to those who had once been hopeless as I had been, stuck in the world of grudges, bitterness, and fear.

Now that my book is published, I have included a link on my blog to it.  Even more around the world can benefit from the things that have happened to me - and which I am now creating.

I am so very grateful.