They say everyone has a book in them. Some authors just know that their life stories would make an interesting book even though some of their life experiences are hard to write about.
Such is the case of Irene Watson, author of the new book, The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference. I love memoirs and Irene doesn’t disappoint. We interviewed her to find out if reliving your past causes more heartache or heals old wounds. Her answer will surprise you.
Q. Thank you for this interview, Irene. Your book, The Sitting Swing, is the story of your childhood. Since some of our readers have not read your book, can you tell us briefly what it is about and why you decided to write it?
A. My pretentious life could go no further until I faced my past head on! My memoir begins at the end, in a recovery center, where I had gone to understand a childhood fraught with abuse, guilt and uncertainty. My story is a testament that it’s never too late to change your life, never too late to heal.
This book is more than a story of my childhood. That’s only part of it. The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference shows us how guilt, fear, and ignorance are borne by our children. Two distinct parts of the book look at an abusive child rearing and the process of recovery that takes place years later. On many levels this is a classic story showing change, growth, forgiveness, and recovery are possible. It is also a story and a testament to the strength and courage of the human spirit. In the end it gives hope and freedom to those that accept the past and move forward by rewriting life scripts that have been passed down for generations.
Q. When you were writing this book, thus opening up old wounds, did you find it hard to stay focused? What was the driving force to keep you going?
A. Yes, and no. Yes, sometimes I wanted to wallow in the past, stay a victim, and continue to have the mindset of “look what they did to me” or “how can I forgive, they “this” or they “that.” However, reliving the past can heal old wounds if we truly want to be healed. Looking at our past experiences gives us the opportunity to create a better life for ourselves. I knew that, so I would bring myself back to focus.
Although I relived the past in the recovery center, I had the opportunity to look at it again when writing the book. The opportunity was to look again what was still messing me up—the memory of the situation or experience I had. Those are root causes of the symptom/reaction that often manifest as unhappiness and fear, or it comes in a form of addiction. They came up for me—again. I knew I hadn’t totally accepted the past and I still had work to do. So writing this book gave me that opportunity! By accepting the experience, even as bad as it was, is very healing. Not accepting it is denial and will continue to harp on you—which it still did in some areas. I didn’t realize it until I was writing about some of the experiences. That was quite an awakening!
Again, I had to look at it this way: I did have that bad experience, but I need to make the decision that it no longer has control over my life. Again, I needed to take the responsibility of my own life and move forward. However, I must add, it didn’t happen overnight. This is something I had to make up my mind to do and gradually transform my life.
I was bound and determined to finish my book, but, before I could do that I had to have more healing in my life. So, that was my driving force! I really had to “walk the talk myself” before I could encourage anyone else to do the same.
