What I didn’t See Coming With Writing My Book

We’ve all had moments when looking to our past feels… a little heavier than we expected. 

For some of us, that's because the past WAS heavy, but I hope to share in my upcoming book, Everything Makes Perfect Sense: A Journey Through Childhood Trauma, Healing, and Forgiveness, that it doesn't have to stay that way. 

The sting (or gut punch) of the past can fade. And most importantly, it doesn't have to dictate your future. 

This week’s question digs into what challenged me most (and what surprised me) about the writing process. 

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Question 3:
You write about such hard topics such as sexual and emotional abuse, addiction, and body hatred. What about the writing process was the most challenging, and what surprised you the most during the process?

Well, first off—I love writing. Always have, always will. 

The days I had the whole house to myself, nothing on the calendar, and plenty of peppermint tea? Bliss. I couldn’t wait to sink into the story. 

And yes, at first (before there were LOTS of edits) it was challenging to put almost every detail of the first 30 years of my life on paper. But it was also incredibly freeing.

Exciting. Emotional. Creative. Exhausting. (Basically all the things at once!)

Sometimes it felt like I was writing about a character I’d invented in my head. But when I wrote about the abuse, I became hyperaware of the younger parts of myself. 

I saw my angry teenager. I soothed my little five-year-old self. And I was able to acknowledge and heal those parts in an even deeper way.

One of the biggest lessons I learned? 

The more I let myself actually feel what was coming up—usually through tears—the quicker those emotions would move through me and I could move forward. 

But if I tried to shove them away, I’d stay stuck in that heavy, gray cloud of the past. 

And the biggest surprise of all? By the end, the book didn’t just feel like “my story” anymore—it felt like a piece of art. 

I wasn't sure if that day would ever come, but after 5.5 years of pouring myself into it, I can finally see it as something I’ve shaped and sculpted and now am proud to share—and to me, that’s the most special part of this whole journey. 

But, I'd also love to hear about you… 
Have you ever gone back to a hard chapter of your life, only to discover it gave you something unexpectedly beautiful? 💜 Hit reply and let me know!

Curious to hear more behind the curtain Q&A's?

Tune in next week and we explore question 4:

What do you want readers to take away from your story?

See you then!