Shadows

"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."  - Helen Keller

The challenges we face define us as people. I once heard, it is not what you do when people are looking, but when they are not, that defines you.

How do you define yourself? Is it based on the expectations of those around you? Or, have you learned to dance to the tune of your own heart?

 "Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people." - Carl Jung

Branding is about defining yourself and your craft, and here on W3, I'm the murder girl; the woman that wields that blood dripping pen, and the one that delves into the tormented soul. It's murder's market, and what you expect from me is a tale or two that goes with my brand and tagline: Murder Follows Me Everywhere.

Well, there are times when one has to try to separate the persona from the person. 

Recently, I had to stop and think about "me" and what helps me to create...it didn't take long to figure it out. I take the pain and hurt I've experienced, and tap into it to be creative. Heartfelt disappointments, unrequited love, dashed dreams...I take them all and build that large snowball and chip away at it to create beautiful sculptures from my words.

"If you love large, you've got to hurt large. If you've got a lot of light, you've probably got an equal amount of darkness. " Sarah McLachlan

Every day, I walk a line, one balanced by my dreams and destiny versus my livelihood. Writing is a part of my dark soul. Yes, it is a part of the taint that I carry within me - a part that I hope to cleanse through sharing my sometimes horrid ideas with the world around me. A crime of many, that I carry within me, that makes up the DNA that is in every cell of my body.

I've been breathing and living in these shadows since conception, forever in darkness, forever a part of the beast's belly. My dreams are nightmares and my heart sometimes aches for a semblance of peace from the torment of being me... in those words though, am I sharing my brand or me? Or are they one in the same?

When it's time to write, I sit in front of my computer and slice myself open, bleeding upon the page. Writing requires an honesty that can't be so easily faked. The facades fall when faced with the truth that the page reflects. And I am thankful for this honesty.

"The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach." - Pliny the Elder

I've learned to walk in part in darkness, for in darkness you don't see the shadows, you are just one of them.

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About Tina: I am the author of THOU SHALL NOT. I love creating three dimensional characters and am always looking for new people to kill…in my stories.

Checkout my author's  blog at TinaGlasneck.com and my book is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also connect with me on Facebook and on Twitter.

"[THOU SHALL NOT is] suspense at its best!" Amazon reader review.