Forgiveness in the Second Act

WOW Women on Writing blog tours invited me to participate in a tour for Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later written by Chris Nielsen. Today I'm posting using the tour's writing prompt: What does forgiveness mean to you now, compared to earlier in your life?

Scroll down to learn more about the book. You can also read an author interview HERE.

Forgiveness is Easy

There was a time in my life - a long time, I confess - when forgiveness was the equivalent of time travel. If you forgave someone you not only forgot about what they had done but you massaged your relationship so things when back to the exact same as it was before they did whatever they were being forgiven for doing. You let go of all the anger, resentment, disappointment. The problem is, things may superficially seem to be fine - or even better than fine. But I carried around all the forgiveness, all the turning back time, secret burdens that only I knew about.

Finally came the day when I realized forgiveness isn't about going back to the time before the transgression. Instead, it's the first step toward change. Forgiveness is great. But forgiveness is easy. The hard part is dissecting what led to someone needing to be forgiven and deciding where to go from there. Going back is not an option. Instead you have to decide what the next step is. How have you changed? How has the relationship changed? What can be salvaged? What SHOULD be salvaged or abandoned? How could I successfully let go of negative emotions unless there were changes?

It took me a long time to realize that forgiveness may be nice but the real accomplishment is forgiveness followed by change.

More about Being Pytor Ilyich

Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later is a confessional spiritual memoir that explores the deeper meaning of human suffering, love, and creative purpose through the lens of soul memory.

Born from an extensive process of past-life and between-lives regression, the book recounts Chris Nielsen’s unexpected discovery of a former life as the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—and the profound emotional wounds, unfinished lessons, and spiritual insights that followed her into this lifetime. Moving beyond biography, the book uses Tchaikovsky’s life as a case study to illuminate how trauma, grief, identity, and longing echo across incarnations.

Blending personal experience with therapeutic and spiritual reflection, Chris offers readers a rare glimpse into the mechanics of incarnation, life purpose, and healing from the perspective of the Higher Self. At its core, this book is not about the past—it is about understanding why we are here, how love shapes our evolution, and how deep inner clarity can transform pain into meaning.

This is a book for seekers, creatives, and anyone longing to understand the hidden threads that connect suffering, love, and the soul’s long journey home.

More about Chris Nielsen

Chris Nielsen is a spiritual author, regression therapist, and podcaster exploring the deeper meaning of incarnation, healing, and soul evolution. She is the author of Being Pyotr Ilyich: Tchaikovsky’s Inner Life, Revealed by Himself 130 Years Later, a confessional spiritual memoir born from an extensive process of past-life regression. Through her writing and her podcast, Time Traveling – A Spiritual Journey of Healing, Chris examines themes of love, grief, soul memory, and the transformative power of human experience. With a background in arts communication and cultural marketing, she brings clarity and discernment to complex spiritual subjects. Her work has been featured in ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, Business Insider, and the Miami Herald.

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