#normalbroken

What are the ages of your child(ren), and where do you live?

Jackson, 11 + Adelaide, would be 8yo but passed away in 2019 days before her fourth birthday + Anessa, 4. We live in Maplewood, NJ.

How do you describe your art practice?

I am an writer and public speaker. I write shorter blog pieces and have published a book. I also speak at events and for various companies across the country.

Who is your artistic crush?

Author, Christie Tate (Group and BFF). She is a brilliant writer who tells it exactly as it is - I've never read such honest and real writing before finding her books. She also happens to be an incredibly generous person who helped me along the way without ever having met me. Bonus - she is also a mom!

What is a superpower Mother+Artists have?

Well, you can always rely on a mother to sh*t done, and that applies to her work as an artist as well. But perhaps even more powerful is our empathy. Never underestimate a mother+artist's ability to love and understand another human's trial and then turn that into relatable art for all to experience and learn from.

You have something exciting coming up! PLEASE SAY MORE ABOUT IT! I just published my first book, Normal Broken: The Grief Companion For When It's Time To Heal But You're Not Sure You Want To, and it is a USA Today bestseller! Following the death of my daughter Adelaide from a neurodegenerative disease just days before her fourth birthday, I felt irrevocably shattered by the loss. I was broken. Through connecting with others and myself through writing I learned that not only is grief not linear, but we all grieve differently. It took me years to want to heal, which was the impetus for writing Normal Broken, because every other grief book I picked up assumed I wanted to heal and I didn't. I thought grief meant letting go of my daughter, or moving on without her. What I would eventually learn is that healing actually meant remembering and moving forward with her. That I would never be the person I was again before she died and that's OK. I would always be broken, but that I could learn to be Normal Broken.

How did motherhood directly, indirectly, oppositionally or integrally influence this project? Having lost my daughter (and a pregnancy at 21 weeks), this book is integrally tied to being a mother. However, it was important to me to write a book that was accessible to people grieving all kinds of loss: be it a physical person, parent, spouse, friend - or grieving a dream, job, or person who is very much alive but no longer in our lives. Grief is grief is grief. Comparing our trials and losses serves no one. So yes, I lost my child and this book wouldn't exist without my daughter - without me being a mother - but that doesn't make my loss greater or less than anyone else's. 

What are you currently reading or listening to that is giving you thoughts, feelings and reactions?

I am currently reading Meghan Riordan Jarvis' End of The Hour, which is a stunningly beautiful memoir, and I am listening to Grief is Love by Marisa Renee Lee, which is exposing me to the ways culture and race can impact the way we grieve. So... lots of grief books, but mostly memoirs because I love learning as much as I can about the human experience.

Any message for Mother+Artists reading this?

I read something recently that spoke to how women often think that if they are able to accomplish something then it must have been easy. GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT FOR ALL YOU DO! Surviving as an artist is not easy, motherhood certainly isn't easy - combine the two of them and we should all be celebrating every achievement, no matter the perceived size, along the way. Take a dance break, pop the bubbly, announce it on social media, whatever you need to do to acknowledge and celebrate you! Because whatever it is you've done, it definitely wasn't easy.

BEST LINKS to find you and your work!

www.kellycervantes.com IG and Facebook: @kellygc411 Normal Broken is available everywhere books are sold! 

Photo credits: Top Row: Author photo by Justin Patterson Bottom Row: Kelly & Adelaide, photo by Jennifer Loomis; Book cover, Benbella Publishing