Elena Casaneanu on how her poetic memoir Alchemista is not just about survival. It is about transformation.
I am a Writer… A Writer in the Making
For most of my life, I never considered myself a writer, romantic, or poetic. Funny how life takes you in directions you never imagined. Life has a way of keeping us on our toes, doesn’t it? Always growing, moving and ever-changing.
Recently, my daughter, who is in third year, told me she doesn’t get poems. “They say something but mean something else, Mum!” And I was the same at her age.
Now look at me, authoring poems and a book!
I wrote my memoir in the third person and used no names. Writing about myself as though I were someone else felt like looking at a new person rather than me. And you know how we often have more empathy for someone else’s troubles than our own?
Putting yourself on paper, releasing a piece of your soul for others to read and judge, takes vulnerability and courage.
My hope was to create a self-guiding book for others on their journeys towards finding their light, whatever stage of life they might be at.
Thankfully, some readers have recognised parts of themselves in my story, and that means a lot to me.
Alchemista
The first part of Alchemista tells my story through the eyes of my unhealed self, reflecting on the beautiful and challenging moments that shaped my journey. At times, it almost reads like a telenovela, full of drama, twists and turns, with a little humour thrown in. But beneath it all lies a story of pain, growth and self-discovery.
What happens when life’s challenges become too heavy to carry and you finally reach breaking point? You hit rock bottom… and that’s when the caterpillar becomes a butterfly. But in that metamorphosis, you feel torn apart physically, mentally and spiritually. It’s not for the weak or faint-hearted, for sure. Especially when your heart is already broken and in pieces… because, life thinks you need a few more cracks before you can grow wings!
Life is a constant trial of balancing our inner compass with that big, giant life scale!
Alchemista came to life . . .
Alchemista came to life in November 2025. I chose the self-publishing route, with TellWell helping me bring my vision to the world while keeping my voice and the heart of my story intact.
It is a poetic retelling of real-life events that shaped me profoundly, woven together with poems, imagery, and Seeds of Reflection to inspire readers to explore their own journeys. I believe that when you turn pain into power, mud into gold and sorrow into light, you become a true alchemist. I left a small farm and a city in Romania to find my way into the big, wide world. I was just 17 when I arrived in Dublin!
I fell head over heels for Ireland: its people, its endless shades of green, its crazy four seasons in one day, and journeys down the country where every turn brings another wonder, with colourful towns painting the way. And yes, I know those hills are mountains, but sorry, not sorry, they still look like hills to me! :)
Living in Ireland
I have lived in Ireland for 26 years now, and although I love it here, living abroad comes with its own bittersweet reality. You build a life somewhere new, yet a part of you remains where you came from. Somehow, once you leave, neither place ever feels quite the same again.
They say home is where you make it. Home is no longer just a place on a map, but the pieces of yourself you carry wherever life takes you.
Alchemista is my story, but its message is universal: a girl grows into a woman, navigating life’s twists and turns in search of her own treasure, her own light and, ultimately herself.
I don’t believe in comparing pain or trauma. My story is mine to tell, just as every woman carries her own. We may face different battles and carry different scars, but each of us has a story worth telling and a light worth rediscovering.
My poems are born in moments when life gets heavy and the words, I cannot always say aloud find their way onto paper. Somehow, using the simplest words, something deep and powerful appears. I call it intuition, a voice from somewhere deep within, where the heart feels what the mind cannot always explain.
A Proud Mama
I am a proud mama of three beautiful children, my best and proudest harvest trio! I spent my first decade building a career in sales and marketing, followed by another in finance. During those later years, my spiritual awakening began, setting me on a healing journey that eventually led me to become a Reiki Master.
I don’t believe I am any more special than anyone else. To me, Reiki exists in everyone. I simply chose to explore it more deeply, open my inner channels and embrace a life guided by love and light.
But hey, it took many demons to fight, many old self-ego deaths and many universal glitches in between. Somehow, life feels simpler now, happier and filled with so much more gratitude.
Words have always found their way onto pages, into notebooks and onto scraps of paper, but I never really gave myself permission to say, “I am a writer.” Writing was a release, a way to make sense of life and everything it threw my way.
I had to go through those learning curves first, including a few unexpected swerves and 360° turns! Just when you think you know where you’re going, the universe steers you towards a path you must pave yourself!
Writing has become my meditation, my me time. It is where I can sit quietly with my thoughts, let my imagination wander and allow my soul to dance with the words.
Life, Imagination and Truth
Perhaps is what writing means to me now: a place where life, imagination, and truth can sit at the same table.
I spent years writing bits and pieces, dreaming of publishing a book one day, never truly believing I could.
But look at me now! I am writing my second book, exploring the space between lived experience, fiction, and imagination. Experiences I’ve lived through or witnessed, including those of people close to me, can become starting points, but imagination gets to play too. Reality can be altered, characters reshaped, and sometimes truth can be expressed more honestly through fiction, yet still come straight from the soul.
Alchemista had to be written before I could finally say it.
I am a writer… a writer in the making. Yayyyy!
Much love & light.
(c) Elena Casaneanu
About Alchemista by Elena Casaneanu:
A journey of breaking, healing, and becoming.
From the soil of her childhood to the storms of betrayal, from silence to voice, and from wounds into wisdom, Elena Casaneanu weaves a story both deeply personal and universally human. Alchemista is a poetic memoir of pain turned into gold, and a guide for anyone learning to rise after being broken.
Told through raw narrative, soul-poems, and quiet seeds of reflection, this book is more than a story—it is an offering, a companion to carry in your pocket when the world feels heavy, and a reminder that you are never too lost, too late, or too broken to begin again.
Alchemista is not just about survival. It is about transformation. It is about remembering who you are.
Even in darkness, light can reignite again—when you dare to look for it.
Order your copy of Alchemista online here.
And read more Writing & Me articles on Writing.ie here.
