‘Today the statistics for early miscarriage are shocking; one in four pregnancies end in loss. And for many there never is an answer or a reason why they lost their baby.
In addition to the physical loss there is devastation and trauma left behind physically, emotionally and psychologically.
Our society is reasonably open and liberal and yet those who suffer a miscarriage often do so in silence and it continues to remain taboo.
Considering miscarriage is so common it is distressing to find it is not a subject that is discussed openly and that there is little support available for parents going through this traumatic experience.’
Unfortunately there’s a strong chance that the sentiment behind those words will be familiar to you.
They’re quoted directly from the introduction to a new book ‘Living with Amazing Grace; a journey through grief, healing and transformation’ by my good friend Melanie Mackie.
To paraphrase Melanie’s story – approaching 40 & beginning to accept that she might not have children, she became pregnant & then lost the baby (Grace) in an extremely devastating miscarriage.
In the book she writes openly about her experience & more importantly about how she got though the grief & achieved her ‘graceful awakening’.
To be open with you, I’ve known Melanie for a few years & she’s always been there for me, & if you’ve read my book, Finding Joy you’ll be familiar with her as she shared sharing her expertise of writing.
Having said that, I’ve read ‘Living with Amazing Grace’ & I absolutely love it. It was only reading that I realised everything Melanie went through which makes it parts of it hard to read but it is incredibly inspiring. And if she can grow after everything she went through, then I believe we all can.
She is a woman after my own heart when she writes that ‘losing Grace was an unexpected but much needed catalyst for transformational change, personally & professionally.’
It goes without saying that I really recommend it.
I recently spoke to Melanie about many things, including:
- The 2 key decisions she made which precipitated her graceful awakening,
- What helped her most,
- How this affected her friendships & how it’s Ok to let friends go.
- And how, after being diagnosed with PTSD, she was able to transform this into a catalyst for growth.
The more conversations I have about grief & the more friends I know who are going through it, the more I realise that, no matter what brought us to this place, how we feel when we’re in the middle of it is very similar. And more importantly, we each make our own path through. My path has some similarities with Melanie’s but it’s not the same.
And we would both say is that there is absolutely a path for each of us.
I really recommend that you watch our conversation & be open to the possibility that reading ‘Living with Amazing Grace’ might take you a few steps forward with your own ‘graceful awakening’
You can read more about Melanie on her website & purchase Amazing Grace on Amazon UK & USA
Please leave a comment below if our conversation resonated with you.
