My social media guru has been after me....I initially wanted to post at least once a week. She wants two. And, I'll admit, I should post at least two. Secretly, I agreed with her and planned to do so. But then LIFE....
So let's recap....I had a fabulous time in Salt Lake City. The wedding was beautiful and COVID safe. And I got a chance to get some writing done. Not as much as I'd like, but I definitely felt good about the draft of the prologue.
But then...a death in the family. When the matriarch of a family dies, it seems the world stops. And it doesn't matter if you've prepared yourself for the inevitability, you never see it coming. She was praying and praising, loving her family, telling stories about all of them, and making them laugh until the end. After she'd seen everyone she wanted to see, she told them she was ready to go. I like to believe that she walked, or rather, she strutted, right on into Heaven smiling and clapping her hands in excitement. As I watched her family give testimonials about her life, the one statement that touched me most was: "She may not have accomplished all she wanted to but she had no regrets." It was the word I needed to hear.
We should all be so blessed to have no regrets, to live gratefully, humbly, and faithfully in the lives that we've been given. And find our happiness. Every. Day. While I would like one of my books to make the NY Times Bestseller lists, I don't want to have any regrets about writing and telling these stories. I don't want to have regrets about anything. Period.
Even as I write this, I realize Deserving Grace and Finding His Treasure are about overcoming your regrets to live and love again. I suppose this novel will as well in different ways because, frankly, that's human nature. We hold ourselves back from love, from adventures in life and love, because we fear the unknown. We fear what others will say. We fear what we want and need as human beings, as friends, and as lovers. We fear having the boundaries and gates lifted. We fear freedom and peace of mind. And then we regret what we didn't allow ourselves to experience, to feel, to know.
So, my Lovelies, live and love without regret and without boundaries. And above all, without fear.
Magnolias and blessings,
C.L.