Burning Beneath

Today something small caught my attention, and yet it felt deeply meaningful.

Out of curiosity, I opened my Facebook author page for Burning Beneath. Not my personal profile, but the page where I share my reflections and writing with the world.

For the first time, I actually looked at the number of followers.

131 people.

It may not sound like a big number to many. But to me, it meant something beautiful.

It is not about validation. I am not chasing numbers or applause. What touched me was the simple realization that there are people out there who read my words and come back for more. That somewhere, somehow, something I write resonates enough for them to stay connected.

And that moved me deeply.

When I started writing, I did not start with a goal, a strategy, or a plan.

I started writing during one of the darkest periods of my life. During my depression, something unexpected happened. I felt a surge of creative energy that had nowhere to go. It was as if my mind needed an outlet, something to pour itself into.

And that is when a thought appeared.

What if I lived a life through a character of my own creation?

A character that resembles me, but without the limitations I live with. No financial limits. No physical limits. No mental barriers.

That is how Sam was born.

Sam, short for Samantha.

There was no deep reason for the name. I simply liked that it could belong to both a man and a woman. Something neutral. Something open.

Through Sam, I could tell my story.

Unapologetically.

Uncensored.

With pure emotion and pure truth.

And maybe that honesty is what people feel when they read.

Sam may be wealthy, brilliant, bold, and fearless. But she is still searching. She is still looking around and looking within, trying to understand herself and the world around her.

And in many ways, that search is my own.

There are really two sides of Sam.

One lives in the reflections I write. Those posts are a mirror of me. My thoughts, my questions, my struggles, my observations.

The other lives in the dreams. Those are fictional journeys where Sam can go anywhere and do anything without limitations.

But there is one rule I cannot escape.

I cannot write if I do not feel.

For a while now, the dream section has been quiet. My energy has been drawn more toward reflection and real thoughts rather than fiction. And that is okay.

Creativity moves like the tide. Sometimes it rushes in, sometimes it pulls back.

A fun fact many people do not know is that my first book was written in five days.

Five days of non-stop writing.

It was like something inside me had been waiting for years and suddenly the door opened. The words poured out faster than I could even think about them. The result was that small story of Sam.

Many of my friends who read it told me it was one of the easiest books to read. Some of them even finished it and immediately read it again.

I think that is because I do not write with complicated language.

I am not a writer of fancy words or long expressions.

I am just a straightforward woman who writes exactly what she feels.

When I write, there is always something swirling inside my head and my heart. And when that feeling grows strong enough, I sit down and let it out.

That is why sometimes days pass without a post. Not because I forget. Not because I do not care.

Simply because there is nothing inside me that needs to come out.

And today, I just wanted to say something simple.

Thank you.

Thank you to everyone who follows the page. To everyone who reads. To everyone who quietly returns.

I do not write looking for applause or comments. In fact, I intentionally turned off comments on the page.

Not out of distance, but out of protection.

Words are powerful. They can build, but they can also destroy. And I am protecting the peace I am trying to build within myself.

I write to heal.

And if those words bring a little peace to someone else along the way, then that is already more than enough.