A Labor of Love

Writing and publishing my new ebook has been quite an experience. I wrote the first draft not long after I experienced a heartbreak a few years ago. I wrote about the heartbreak here. Writing “Mending a Broken Heart: Lili’s Magic Journey” was a healing tool for myself.

I consider the ebook a labor of love, my way of going through my feelings, my way of making sense of what had happened, my way of potentially giving light to someone else who could be having similar experiences. Publishing it also had a deep meaning, the ability to transform something that once was so painful, into something that could become a source of inspiration for others to focus on self-love as they heal.

Combined with friends who rallied to be supportive, who checked on me on those first few days in the aftermath of what happened, writing the ebook was my way of staying sane, of moving forward, of practicing self-love, of finding a glimpse of light, even if through fiction, when everything seemed extremely dark and hopeless.

The first draft was ready in less than a month, but I kept editing and making changes to it. The current ending only came up almost a year after I had written the first draft. It took me another year to continue editing, and to decide that not only the book was ready for publishing, but that I was ready to share that part of myself with the world.

Right after I sent the file to the company formatting the book into ePub and Mobi (Kindle format), my throat started hurting. I wasn’t feeling sick, just my throat hurt. Then, for three days, I had no voice. It felt as if all my fears of speaking up, and of showing up for myself were there asking me to stop this madness, to stop the publishing process, to go back to hiding, to stay safe. Instead, I drank tea with honey, and an old recipe of one spoon of whisky, one spoon of honey, and lime. I also bought cough drops, and had them often. I kept meditating, reassuring my throat that it would be safe. When I thought I had recovered, and my voice was back, I started coughing like a crazy person, even though my chest felt clear.

The message from the cough was to open up, open my throat chakra, trust myself, and let “Mending a Broken Heart: Lili’s Magic Journey” inspire others, no matter how it made me look, or how I’d be perceived, as I went from publishing a business non-fiction book, to then publishing a self-love and heart healing book. In order to heal, I had to embrace the rawness, and vulnerability I was feeling.

The throat only fully healed once the first 5* review was posted on Amazon. After that, I started getting emails from readers, sharing their own heart breaking situation, and telling me how Lili’s story provided them with some solace, and the tools they needed to move forward.

Is there anything bothering you in your life? Do you have any emotional open wounds that need your attention? Can you come up with your own labor of love to create something out of that pain? What could it be? A few weeks ago, a friend shared this article about a woman whose fiancé cancelled the wedding a few weeks before it happened, and she turned the wedding dress into art.

If you have already created something that helped you heal, have you shared it with your followers? I find that the exercise of posting it, bringing it forward, and expressing oneself, is also part of the healing journey, and it makes you even stronger while supporting others.

If indeed, when you are ready to express yourself, to launch your business, to publish your book, to share your photography/artwork/creative endeavor with the world, you get sick, your throat hurts, you lose your voice, choose to connect with it. Ask for it to share with you what it is afraid of, and reassure it that you are safe, and that sharing it will serve not only to heal others, but it will also encourage them to do the same for themselves.

I’d love to hear about your own Labor of Love projects.

Namaste,

Elisa Balabram

PS. I’m very grateful to all the 5* reviews that have been posted to date on Amazon; for Joanne Guidoccio for featuring me on her blog, where I shared my journey as a writer; for Katherine T. Owen for featuring the ebook on her page; and for my friend Celso Alves for sending me this post’s image – a heart made with a special Japanese ceramic style called Raku, created especially for Lili’s journey. Thank you.