Within us

restless questions

I began my writing adventure to overcome work-related trauma. How many others have done the same?

Years of endurance had already taken their toll on my health, so I searched for an escape. For me too, writing became self-healing.

But when we write like this, we often find ourselves too deeply inside the characters. One day, I even got a phone call from my daughter. “Mama Ada,” she said, addressing me as if I were one of my own characters.

We weave into our stories fragments of ourselves—our past, our parents, our families. Then comes the moment the reader encounters our memory and imagination. The people we mentioned are right there in our story.

And we grow afraid.
Did I do the right thing?

At times, we understand we’ve divulged too much information, even before finishing the book. And yet, we are overly fond of our characters, making change appear unrealistic.

Or perhaps those very passages are the strongest in the book. The milestones without which the story would lose its meaning.

I believe we owe it to ourselves to be honest. To follow the healing process through to the end. To rediscover ourselves in our own words and our memories.

Isn’t that what every writer hopes for?