FICTION VS. REALITY

by Rain Trueax

There are times, when it may seem as if our world is bombarded by tragic news. Between political upheaval, natural disasters, and random, horrendous violent acts, it can feel as though it's all too much to bear. What do we do about what we cannot personally change?

After one particular horrible event (I am purposely not listing any, as that's not the point of this piece), I read people questioning should they carry on as usual. They felt that there needed to be some recognition through action or inaction as to what had happened. 

If we are students of history, we know things have been worse. There have been times of plague, famine, armies marching over hapless citizens. Such times seem to go in cycles with those of grace followed by turmoil. When we are the ones in in the midst of a time of chaos and violence it is, of  course, the most horrible it ever was. I think, this is especially in our era where we both know too much and not enough.

In such times, we who write romances might question how important can they be where real life is anything but offering happy endings. I'd make the case that offering happy endings, wherever possible, matters more than ever. 

One thing we know, humans cannot live with constant heavy hearts without paying a price for it physically. We need uplift. We need times of grace. If right now, the world can't or won't give it to us, we can claim it through writing something that gives heart, that promises a better tomorrow, and leaves us, those who wrote it, feeling better about life. Then, we can offer it to others as a gift of hope. Whatever we might do in terms of volunteering, donating, praying, in the end much is out of our control. In real life, the good don't always survive-- except there is one place they can-- in our books.

A friend sent me the following link on this subject. I saw it as uplifting and for me, a reminder of what words can mean. Words might seem like a small thing, but they are what can, even if only temporarily, bring light in a time of darkness. Light always does return to reality-- or always has. In such dark times, we need reminders of that, and romance novels can be one of them.

Storms, Survival, and Stories

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Rain Trueax will be moving to Sweethearts of the West in November. Follow Rain there at http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com  when she posts on the 12th of each month.