Change is a scary word to digest.

To step into the unknown without the safety net of the familiar can daunt you. And it’s only fair to think that life hasn’t been so forgiving… to you or the ones you love.

Looking back at the year gone by, it’s safe to say a lot has passed. Just like anything in a world so fickle. Maybe it’s an old habit, a friendship that broke, or perhaps someone you lost along the way…

It’s mostly the last one that sticks with you the most. It’s only natural, the nature of grief that keeps you latching on.

What makes it so difficult? What makes you feel that empty void in your heart so prominently?

The truth is, among the people you meet in life, there are some whom you see at the subway every day in their usual spot… they don’t have many contributions to your life. Odds are, you don’t in theirs either… but somehow, when they’re not there cross-legged, reading their usual newspaper, you feel hollow…

Others are acquaintances you like being around and sharing a laugh with, the people you might not invite to your birthday party but rather tell about how it went, and they’d be completely okay with it…

Then there are friends and blood relatives, but if you think of a person who’d leave a mark in your life more than any other, you have to dig a little deeper with your definitions and social constructs of people you associate with…

A little more… yes, that’s right.

It’s a relationship that transcends space, time, and energy.

Soulmates are a part of you.

Our author, Laura Formentini, found hers in her son, Blaise. She etches her journey through grief with her book, Twentyone Olive Trees.

A chapter brings change

A loss of a soulmate can feel like your favorite book ending. From moments of bliss gazing at auroras, she found herself puzzled.

The flow felt the winds of change dealt.

Your mind is caught in a crescendo of feelings hazing your vision of the present. The fear of stepping into the future stops you from accepting what has happened.

Laura Formentini’s book is a testimony to that journey. But from change, beauty is birthed.

Into the New year

We often dread the new year, convincing ourselves we’ll bring about a change in ourselves. We don’t address the issue at hand. The pain that sticks to us. We search for catharsis.

Twentyone Olive trees are the manifestation of catharsis through those feelings of grief. Laura Formentini vented her sadness, slowly growing, nurturing the hollowness left in her, which became a breathing place for something new.

She found her catharsis in storytelling with fables left for the reader to delve into. Laced with care and blossoming with meaning and life, her stories give you the perfect start to your healing journey.

Laura Formentini showed how fear and feelings of grief wouldinevitably pass. All it takes is acceptance… something easier said than done.

Our acceptance of the inevitable change hinders us from embracing the newness.

The year gone

You’re moments of survivor’s guilt, depression, and denial away from deliverance.

Laura shares her beautiful take on death as a transformation process rather than an ending that we are just a metamorphosis away from becoming energy.

It may be the end of something, but the beginning of something new.

Let us head to the new year with the same message.

A message of forgiveness, courage, and, ultimately, healing.

Yes, the previous year left you wounded and maybe even scarred.

But time heals wounds, and love helps you embrace your scars; battle marks you carry with you for the rest of your life.

Let’s celebrate what we have gained and pay tribute to what we have lost.

Grief isn’t just limited to someone’s passing…

Let us welcome new jubilations and feelings of happiness.

Welcome the winds of change.

Take the first step, and maybe one day, you will be helping someone going through the same. It’s what they’d want…

The people you have come to know and love. The people who have unknowingly impacted you so much.

Resolution

Resolution is at the end of every hardship.

As we head towards the new day, let’s manifest our resolution for the upcoming challenges we may face.

A prayer that we may emerge victorious from whatever battle we face. Pray for the souls of those we love and those we will come to love.

It won’t be easy…

But guess what? We have the perfect book to get you through it all.

Start your journey to resolution with Laura Formentini’sTwentyone Olive Trees. A book etched with love and passion. Where it became a path to healing for one can be yours too.