That’s it.
♥
May 18th is Haitian Flag Day
Author: Christine Gabriélle
Introvert. Creator. Storyteller. Amateur Graphic Designer. Researcher. Problem Solver.
Why I’m Afraid to Talk About Religion and How I’m Going to Do It Anyway
I’ve always felt like I should keep my religion a secret; like I should separate it from every public-facing aspect of my life.
Growing up, we were taught that in the last days the world would hate us because we kept the Sabbath and people who were tasked to enforce Sunday religious laws would come after us and kill us. We were taught we’d have to hide and not let anyone know who we were in order to stay alive.
That’s how I heard it, anyway.
We were also taught that we had to share the gospel and the love of God to people we encountered in life.
I used to keep a separate blog where I talked about my religion and my relationship with God (they are not one in the same), but one of the things I’m practicing with my leadership coach is reeling in all the pieces of me that I have spread out in various places and proceeding from a space of wholeness and authenticity.
And the truth is, my religion has played a tremendous part in who I am (positively, neutrally, and negatively).
I’m not going to start posting a bunch of religious content here—I’m not particularly “religious” in a public-facing way anyhow—but I am going to stop trying to purposely leave it out. This space is becoming about more than just what I’m reading, and there are character development things that happen in my life that involve religion, so I’m just not ignoring it anymore.
Anyway, that’s it.
♥
Book 2 Update
Just a note: I’ve decided to try something different with this book, and I’ll let you know what it is later.
Update: I am going into self-edits. It feels exciting and also overwhelming.
The main story in Book 2 is one I started as a novel with parallel storylines that intersect at the end but has been reduced to just one of those stories. This story has seen so many iterations that I don’t even remember exactly where it was going when I first started it.
What I do know is I’ve read it so many times that the thought of looking at it again makes me want to scream! But and however, I have to look at it again. I have to make sure it makes sense and I have to get it right.
The rest of the stories are fun (and much shorter), so I may actually start with those before getting to the big one. My plan is to finish self-edits by the end of this month if I can, middle of June if I’m pushing it, beginning of July at the latest.
I’m creating space to give myself grace, but I do have a main goal and a hard deadline.
So much of writing these stories has been processing trauma and healing myself. The stories are all fictional this time, unlike my first book which included personal essays as well.
I’m excited for people to read these stories. And I hope they are enjoyed because I have enjyoed writing them!
♥
Christine Gabriélle 