Thank You

I have been open about how my mother’s death has affected me since it happened in July. I have shown how depressed it has made me, how disoriented it has made, and how, in an odd way, it has made me stronger. Through mostly my poetry and at least one piece of fiction, I have laid my heart bare for everyone to see—and, for the most part, you have all been very receptive to it. You have made me feel accepted and loved in a way that I have not felt from a community in a long time. And for that, I want to tell you all, thank you.

I know that it is not always appealing to read works about something so depressing as death and grief, so to have a creator who keeps producing so many pieces about those subjects can get tedious, to say the least. It can even cause readers to want to stop reading that writer’s works. However, I have found that it really helps me to write these poems and stories, to channel my grief into something creative instead of letting it fester inside of me. It allows me to get the emotions out of me so that I can process them properly when I do not have anyone that I can talk to about them—or when I simply feel as though I cannot talk to anyone about them. If I get a few positive comments or even a Top Story or two out of the process, it’s all the better.

There have been so many of you on here who have really been there for me throughout this entire grieving process just through commenting and giving me encouragement, but one has stood out who has helped me a lot: Paul Stewart. The Accidental Poet has really helped me through the grieving process by sharing his own experiences, and he’s always great for a laugh. I am glad to count him as a friend, as I am glad to count you all as friends.

Make sure to check out Paul’s profile, which I have left a link to below.

Am I done writing grief- and death-related pieces? No, probably not. Even though it has been a few months, I am still going through the grieving process, and I probably will be for quite a while. After all, grief has no deadline. It could take months or even years for me to fully heal. I do not know. Just last night I wrote and posted a poem for the Masks We Wear Challenge that is part of my grieving process (link below).

So, if my readership drops off a bit because I continue to write these pieces, I understand. Hopefully, the quality of my work will prevent that, but I understand that people want variety in their reading and can only emotionally handle so much. It is just what I have to do in order to heal. I just wanted to thank everyone for supporting me when I needed it most and for continuing to support me as I continue to undergo this grieving process and supporting my own father in his grieving process.

That is what I like best about Vocal. We are not just a place to post our writing; we are a community. We are a community of writers, of artists, who support each other not just in our writing endeavors but in every aspect of our lives, even when our lives get ugly. And I hope that we keep supporting each other, no matter what we are going through, no matter what the world is going through—and believe me, it looks like the world is going to go through a lot before things get better (but that’s a story for another article).