Happy Ever After: Tracy Corbett

Happy Ever After

by Tracy Corbett

…and they all lived Happily Ever after.

It’s a phrase we’re all familiar with. The handsome prince wins the hand of the beautiful princess and they sail off into the sunset amid shooting stars, fireworks, and showered in hearts and moonbeams. Like everyone else, I believed that’s all it took. You meet someone, fall in love, get married and live ‘Happily Ever After’. Simple as.

But that’s because when you’re younger you have no idea what lies ahead and the pitfalls that lie in wait – and just as well. The naivety of youth is a glorious thing. Imagining love to be nothing but romance, hearts and flowers, is a gift of the young, something that once lost is never regained.

It’s only as you get older and wiser that you began to question whether love really is that simple and straightforward. Do these gorgeous, perfect, flawless Disney characters really never have any issues? Do they seriously sail through life never arguing over whose turn it is to empty the bins? Do they never experience money worries or struggle to pay the rent? Are they never made redundant or succumb to gambling or alcohol? And what about DIY disasters? Fertility issues, or disagreements over when to have children – if ever?

And what about infidelity, illness, injury, depression? Do these people really never experience any of these challenges? Or is it just the rest of us mere mortals who fumble our way through life, collecting broken hearts, disappointments and decree absolutes along the way.

Because let’s face it, these are the things that kill a ‘Happy Ever After’ quicker than Usain Bolt running the hundred metres. One moment life is fine, you’re happy with your lot, content in your nice home, with your gorgeous family, and socialising with your equally happy and high-achieving friends… until the meteor hits and bam! in the blink of an eye, life as you knew it no longer exists. The ‘Happy Ever After’ you thought you’d so effortlessly achieved is dead in the water and you’re crying yourself to sleep every night.

That’s the beauty of human beings, we’re a resilient bunch. We face adversity, battle though challenges and emerge the other side, slightly battered, with a chocolate addiction, but determined not to let whatever has happened to get the better of us. There’s nearly always another dream to chase, another love to be experienced, and a new beginning to embark upon.

Each new experience brings with it learning and wonder and the further capacity to love. Every new relationship, be it romantic, parental, family or friend, expands the heart’s capacity to give and receive love. Like a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining in size and momentum, growing in strength and power, unstoppable and formidable until it has the potential to crush an entire village.

Our ability to be ‘happy’ isn’t determined by one single lifelong relationship, it’s a collection of experiences that spread the load. Heartbreak in our twenties is all-consuming and devastating, something we fear we’ll never recover from. But loss in our latter years is tempered by learning not to put ‘all our eggs in one basket’. We’ve formed bonds with other people, had children, collected friends, in-laws, pets and work colleagues along the way. We have hobbies and interests. The hole left by a loved one leaving is less destructive.

Partly because our support networks are usually stronger by this point in our lives, but also because past experiences have taught us that we will get through it. No matter what, we will survive – as Gloria Gaynor so aptly put it. 

This was the idea for my latest book, A Winter’s Wish. All three main protagonists have suffered devastating blows in their lives, abandonment, homelessness and financial insecurity, and yet they still believe that things will get better for them, that whatever life throws up, happiness is still a possibility.

After all, love following loss and adversity is more rewarding the second time around, right? We value it more because we know what it feels like to have it snatched away. And maybe heartbreak and loss only makes the idea of a happy ending all the more satisfying. We cherish it all the more, because we know what’s it like to be on the other side.

In conclusion, I don’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘Happy Ever After’. There isn’t one linear storyline that runs from beginning to end without hiccup or hurdle. Life is made up of a series of moments. Singular events that happen throughout our lives and cobble together to form the patchwork of an existence.

If we’re lucky, there are more good moments than bad. More joy than heartbreak, and more happy memories than sad ones. But it’s only at the end of our lives that we can truly assess how happy we’ve been. And of course, by then, it’s too late. What’s the saying? The problem with life is that you have to live it forwards, but you can only understand it backwards. And ain’t that the truth. All any of us can do is keep trying. Brush ourselves down after the falls, pick ourselves up after the losses, and try, try again… no matter how many times it happens. Because ‘Happy Ever After’ is never the end of the story… it’s only ever the beginning.

—

Tracy Corbett started writing in her late twenties. As well as writing novels, she’s written several short stories, pantomime sketches and magazine articles. Tracy describes her writing style as modern tales of romance, with engaging quirky characters, who overcome adversity, grow as people and conclude in satisfying optimistic endings. When she’s not writing, she enjoys amateur dramatics, gardening and music. She works part-time for a local charity.

Find out more about Tracy on her website: http://tracycorbettauthor.co.uk

A WINTER’S WISH

Can they put aside their differences to work together?

Sam Tipping always shunned the wealth into which she was born. Instead, she’s worked hard to set up The Crash Pad, a shelter for homeless young Londoners – but she’ll need a Christmas miracle to keep it running.

Having grown up in foster care, Jamie Lawson has no time for heiresses. Until his job as a journalist requires him to befriend Sam in order to expose her city banker brother for financial irregularities.

As he spends more time with Sam, Jamie realises she’s not the spoiled brat he assumed she’d be – in fact, she’s starting to melt the ice around his heart. Can he bring himself to betray Sam’s trust for his big career break?

A gorgeous and heartwarming festive romance for readers of Karen Swan and Sarah Morgan.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips