I love to write. I write about the spiritual in our everyday lives, and I write children’s books. Yes, I know that they are two completely different genres; yet both make me feel complete.

I believe that writing about the spiritual is what I was meant to do. It is my reason for being here, and I feel if I have helped just one person with my spiritual writing, then I am fulfilling my mission in life. Writing children’s books takes me to places where all things are possible, where bears can talk, princesses live in lovely castles, and magical mystical experiences are an everyday occurrence.

Yes, writing children’s books may not be my mission in life, but it satisfies my passion for writing, and it allows me to be creative. “Creative” is the key word here.

Being creative gives our spirit a voice; my spirit speaks through my writing. I do believe that when we do anything creative, like painting, gardening, scrap-booking, photography, knitting, playing a musical instrument, or singing, we are giving our spirit a voice. So, in effect, music is really a spiritual thing; it connects us spirit to spirit, and heart to heart. That’s why songs are so special to us, especially love songs.

When my husband died, I felt the need to share the feelings I had for him deep within my heart; so I wrote. Then out of the blue, I felt compelled to write songs. I felt the need to write songs about our love. I’m not a songwriter, but I couldn’t get it out of my mind. You see, music was always a part of our lives. We didn’t always have the same taste in music, but that didn’t matter. My husband was a rock and roll kind of guy; he knew all the latest groups, bands, and songs. He was an aficionado. Oh, how he loved his music. So writing songswas something I HAD to do for “US”!

I felt it was so very important to show the world the everlasting love that I had for my husband. I wanted my music to show not only how I loved and lost, but also how I would never forget. So I gave my spirit a voice, and wrote the lyrics to three love songs. I found a studio in Nashville to create the songs for me. My songs were written from my heart, and dedicated to Eddie, my husband of 35 years, and the love of my life. The titles of my songs are, “We’ll Never Say Good-Bye,” “Love Beyond the Veil,” and “I Thought We Had Forever.” I have never felt compelled to write another song.

In the darkest days of my life, as I struggled to come to grips with my husband’s death, my creative passion – my writing helped me to get through the day. It gave my life purpose, it gave me a reason for living, and it helped me to make it through those days when grief washed over me in giant waves of sadness.

To this day, writing continues to help me deal with my aloneness; it gets me through the long weekends, the holidays, and the nights alone when sadness creeps into my world. I hope that including the creative in your life will help you to deal with the loss of your loved one.

Yes, “music” is really a spiritual thing. And, yes, it helped me to heal my broken heart.

 

Paula Ezop

Paula M. Ezop is a spirituality commentary columnist. Her inspirational columns Following the Spiritual Soul have appeared in Oconee Today, a South Carolina Scripps Howard publication. They are currently in: Celebrating the Success of the Modern Woman, Esteem Yourself, and Open to Hope. She has contributed to such popular books as Chicken Soup for the Caregivers Soul and she has written the foreword to Whispers of Inspiration, a collection of both poetry and prose gathered from voices around the world. Paula also co-authored a book in the Mommies Line, Spirituality for Mommies. Her Ebook Sparkly Bits of Spiritual Wisdom is available online, it is a collection of her inspirational columns. She has also written Sparkly Bits of Spiritual Wisdom – 29 ½ Ways for Women to Get In Touch With Their Spirits. Closest to her heart is her most recent book, A Widow’s Journey – Healing a Broken Heart. Wiggles Press has published her children’s chapter books, The Adventures of Penelope Star and the Mystery of the Three Dragons, and Lee McKenzie’s Summer to Remember – both are the first in a series. Paula holds the Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Elementary Education from Northeastern Illinois University. Her heartfelt and meaningful writing began as a means to overcome the loss of her husband. Paula has now written hundreds of articles and several books centering on life and faith. Her sustaining philosophy is that “we are more than the woman we see in our mirror.”

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