Cynthia A. Morgan's Blog, page 235

A Letter to Winter (Poem)

[image error]Dear Winter,

While you are outside

blustering away the day

masking the delicate garden flowers

in your white, cold frost…

I am blooming inside.

Regardless of the weather

my heart

pink and yellow and blue

writes what it desires

like a flower petal

reaching for the sun in spring.

And if it is not too much to ask…

I would rather keep it that way.

~by Lynn Burns

http://www.writersblockworkshop.com

photograph credit: Les Anderson, from http://www.unsplash.com

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry

Emilia: The Darkest Days – #BookReview

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Emilia: The darkest days in history of Nazi Germany through a woman’s eyes

by Ellie Midwood

This story is dedicated to all the victims of sexual slavery in German concentration camps, who had to endure inhumane suffering under the Nazi regime.

For many years after the atrocities had been committed, both sides – the abusers and the abused – still vehemently denied certain aspects of the Holocaust, and even the victims refused to admit the ugly truth about their incarceration, some out of fear, some out of shame, until several women decided to break an unofficial oath of silence, and brought their stories to life. This book is based on one of those stories.

Emilia is a young Jewish woman, whose life slowly turns into a nightmare as she finds herself facing a dreadful choice: to secure her family’s very existence by offering herself to one of the men who had put her behind the walls with barbed wire, or perish together with the least fortunate ones. Only, the Krakow ghetto and her very first abuser pale in comparison to what is yet to come, as she’s being sent to a place that soon will turn into her own personal hell and that will scar her for life…

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‘Emilia’ tells the darkest tale honestly, drawing the reader into this fictional young woman’s harrowing life as subtly and surprisingly as Emilia herself was drawn, yet it shows so accurately what happened to countless victims.  You cannot help connecting with Emilia as you turn page after page, reliving her nightmare told with startling candor.

This is an inspiring tale of courage, yet the horrors of war fill every page.  Ellie Midwood successfully conveys this young woman’s tale of rape and abuse through poignantly compelling, as well as frighteningly sadistic, characters; transporting the reader into the heart of a young woman desperately trying to survive.

Not for the faint of heart, Emilia’s story shares more than just the dreadfulness of her darkest days; it goes beyond them into her determination to recover and find renewal, emphasizing the strength of Positive Resolve and Power of Hope that all survivors understand.

5 Stars Without a Doubt!

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~Morgan~

Filed under: Authors Books Reviews & Interviews Tagged: BnV, Book Review, Book Review Blogs, BooknVolume, Books to Read, Holocaust Survivors, Supporting Indie Authors, Victims of Rape, WWII, ~Morgan~

Tairy Fales

So, I was inspired to write a post on what have my Fairytales taught me in life. In childhood, each story has some morals at the end, some lesson you learned from it. But, more often than not, fairytales get to us in the best possible way, and we all, especially us girls wanna be the leading lady in the tale, wanting to go through all her hardships just to find our happy ending. But does real life ever has a happy ending even after a long struggle?

I know some of you are nodding in Yes, while others are nodding in a No. My answer would be Yes, happy endings are there, but a lot different, we all don’t end up with our prince and live happily ever after. Some of us are our own Heroes, making things work on our own, making the ending happy. Some have it smooth and some have it Uneven.

[image error]My first Favourite was “Cinderella”, for obvious reasons. I mean who won’t like a down on her luck girl who goes from rags to riches over a glass shoe? And then there was the Fairy Godmother, the one in a blue ball gown that turns inane things like Pumpkin and Rats into glass carriages and fat coaches. You know the scenes I loved was when she would turn her tattered dress into a gown made of weaved silks and satins. I would often stand in front of the mirror and imagine myself in that gown and a Prince Charming to give his heart to me at first look. One that would go to the ends of the Earth with my memory, carrying it like a fragile glass shoe and won’t rest till he finds me, or swear to spurn the world for me. It was an assurance of true love, of love at first sight, of the undying quest for your perfect match. But you know in the end, when Cinderella forgives her step mom and step sisters, that taught me somethings very important, and they were “The higher you rise, the humble you get”, “Power is not always in exercising it, but it’s in forgiveness.” and lastly “Revenge is not the only way to punish, exemption too, brings guilt”. As a kid I wanted her to punish the three vile women, but as I grew up, I understood her need to let them go. I try to practice it sometimes now. You know, I come from my partied by 12 since forever by default. Lol.

[image error]Next on my list is everyone’s favourite, “Snow White And The Seven Dwarves”. Now who doesn’t love some adventure, being thrown out of your palace seems more like a reward than a punishment when you have the adventure in your heart. A princess and the most pretty one at that left to the whims of a stepmom, who isn’t just evil but a witch too. What could be more debilitating than that? The part I loved most was when the executioner wouldn’t kill her but have mercy letting her go, never to return, In my heart, I would be happy, that now she will be living fearlessly, in woods if not in palaces. But then something even better happens when she finds seven dwarves, who would fill her heart with love and warmth like never before. They become her mother, her brother, her friend, her guides and saviours. It taught me that “When life brings you to your all-time low, don’t lose hope, something awesome is just waiting for you round the corner.” I also learned that “Happiness could be found in huts, not just palaces and love can be found in people you never deemed worthy enough”, and the last but not the least one is “Mirror never lies”. You can fool yourself, but the mirror will speak the truth, no matter what. Though that book has given me a general prudence towards eating Apples. Especially if given by a stranger.

[image error]The third on my list is a compliment all girls get once in a while, and that is “Sleeping Beauty”. Now sleeping beauty is different in one way, Aurora, the princess, has no evil stepmom, but she wasn’t spared the evilness. She got it in one witch. Now, what I Love about Sleeping Beauty is the fact that sleep helps keep your beauty intact, which happened to the young Aurora when she was put to a 100 yrs of sleep(I believe we all look prettier sleeping). But here too we have our prince to the rescue, as we know that he will come for his damsel, and kiss her with all his might and wake her up. It teaches some crucial life lessons. First one is that “True love will come for you, even if it takes a 100 yrs for it to arrive”, Second one is that “You can’t avoid what’s fated for you” as we know that despite the king taking every precaution and burning every spindle, he couldn’t save his darling from ill fate. The last one which is evident in every fairytale is “True love has the power to move mountains and can bring you back from death”.

And yes “Always double-check your guest list and make sure no one important is left out”, LOL. BTW I loved the Maleficient version too, it gave an excellent insight into the witches mind and gave quite a rational reason to her cursing the little, Aurora, or no invitation seemed real lame reason to curse that bad. So now we are wiser, we know that witches have a heart too and they have their reasons, thanks to Angelina Jolie.

Fairy tales are stories of magic, wonder, and enchantment. They’re stories that feature fantastic creatures, a faraway place, and dreamlike elements. They explore myth and take you to magical lands. You’ve heard your child say it before: “Tell me a story.” Reading a book or telling a fairy tale before bed is one of the most validated reasons to snuggle up and postpone bedtime just a wee bit. Today, especially, is the perfect day to cosy in with your child and start a story with the classic “Once upon a time…” we’ve all come to know so well and yes, don’t forget to end it with “And they lived happily ever after”……

PS: Stepmoms are not always evil, I have personally known some real loving ones.

by QuillnParchment

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV Tagged: BnV, Fairy, Fairy Tales, Guest Post, Lessons, Morals, Story, Tales

Pride Part 2 (#guestblogger)

Pride – Part 2
Posted on November 25, 2016
This is the second  in a 5 part series on pride.  If you missed the first post, which explains my background with pride, you  will find it HERE.

He is obvious.  He walks in the room with an air of confidence that can be seen with each step he takes.  Everyone turns and acknowledges him, and he just smiles.  He walks up to some people in a group talking and immediately takes over the conversation.  Several more people gather around him as well, because they know he speaks with confidence.  He doesn’t seem to care that he is the only one talking.  Through the evening, he goes from one person to another initiating conversation, introducing himself to those he doesn’t know and just being the life of the party.   He is self-assured, confident and knowledgeable.  When he leaves, it seems the party just isn’t the same, and you hear one of the newcomers say “Man, who was that guy?  He sure is arrogant!”

This is the picture we usually get when we talk about a prideful person.  Someone who is so full of themselves that they spill out on everyone else.  I know because that was me several years ago.  Especially in business, I carried myself with such confidence it made people believe about anything I’d say.  And it brought me success!  I looked at it as a real positive in my life.  But it became my downfall.  Pride always will.

But pride goes much further than this picture.  In this installment, I want to look at what pride really is – how can we define it properly to take in all the ways it manifests itself in people’s lives.  Most people think the above example is the epitome of prideful behavior, but I can tell you it is vastly different than that.

Webster’s dictionary defines pride this way:

1 : the quality or state of being proud: as a :  inordinate self-esteem :conceit b :  a reasonable or justifiable self-respect c :  delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship  pride>
2 : proud or disdainful behavior or treatment :disdain
3a :  ostentatious display

 

Sounds abut right, doesn’t it?  Isn’t that how we see pride?  This is the common understanding of what pride is.  Going by this definition, it would be easy to see pride in ourselves and be able to deal with it, don’t you think?  Maybe, although most people I know who fit that description rarely correct that behavior myself formerly included.

But pride is so much more than this.  I want to give you a new definition of pride.  One that expands the scope of the attribute into a much wider bunch of people.  One that will help you understand better why God hates pride so much.  And one that will make you really reach inside yourself and search to make sure there really is no pride in you.

 My new definition of pride is an inordinate amount of attention to self:  Self-love:  Making everything about oneself.

On the surface, this might not look a whole lot different than the definition we already accept, but it is vastly different.  Let me give you an example that will throw you a real loop.  In Part 1 of this series, I mentioned that I spent 8 months at Pure Life Ministries, where everyone had a pride problem.  I remember one particular person there named Brian.  Brian was small in stature, skinny, balding head and glasses.  But the thing that really sticks with me about Brian was that when he first got there, he was so quiet.  Unbelievable quiet.  He was so shy that if he wanted to talk to you, he would come up beside your bunk bed and stand there looking at you until you started up the conversation.  Now I thought this guy was meek and shy.   I mean, he seemed to have no self-confidence at all.  What was he doing in a room full of loud, arrogant, prideful guys?

The fact of the matter is that Brian had just as much pride as any of the rest of us.  Brian was so self-absorbed that he was afraid to speak up.  He had been ridiculed and put down most of his life and he had just crawled inside himself and shut the door!  He just kept to himself and cared for himself.  No one and nothing else mattered.  This is just as prideful as the loud arrogant ones, maybe even more.  He was completely into himself, and that is what pride is – self is all that matters.  What I want the way I want it.

Have I got you thinking now?  We see that pride takes on many different forms, and I will talk more about that in the third part of this series next time.   Between now and then, feel free to comment about what other types of people have a pride problem, and we will get a discussion going.  There are a lot more, believe me.  Once we have identified that, in Part 4 we will look at what God says about pride, and what the antidote is.  It will be a fascinating journey.

Please visit my blogs.  I try to post daily or more:

Poetry Blog

Psalms study and other stuff

 

 

Filed under: Guest Bloggers on BnV, Poetry Tagged: Guest Blogger, pride

#FridayFeyDay – #DailyHaikuChallenge – #Fantasy #Poetry

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Quiet Whispers Sing

Magic Shimmers in the Light

Breath of Sweet Fantasy

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 85 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Artwork found on Facebook at: Fairies, dragons and other mythological creatures. Credit Acknowledged to the original Artist. Thank You.

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Fantasy, Light, Magic, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Poetry Prompt, Writing Challenge, ~Morgan~

#Balderdash Blog Blast!

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My recent post, Word Mongery initiated several comments about the brilliantly fun word game Balderdash that have left me musing all week long. Not just musing, but wishing to play that marvelous game of creativity again, though not a single member of my family will undertake playing it with me any longer (for somewhat obvious reasons!) Which naturally leaves me with a seemingly un-resolvable quandary:  How to play without being able to play?

Solution?  You got it!  Invite YOU to play with me.

#FridayFeyDay – Sensing More

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Closing her eyes, she cast her senses outward, like blowing out a candle and watching the smoke extend in all directions from the source; she sought to touch him once again, seeking an answer to the question that had been tumbling in her mind since their last encounter, regardless of the amount of time she had spent attempting to quell her thoughts in ancient readings.  She touched other creatures briefly, disengaging almost instantly after discerning that the thoughts she sought were not there.  Doe stealing quietly through undergrowth, a vixen crying under the moon in search of her mate, the nightly sojourning owl fluffing its feathers against the cold; all quiet, all innocent, none coming closer to her.

Then her thoughts touched a dark, brooding, ethereal presence.  She gasped in surprise at the fervor of emotion that washed over her mind and stepped back in response to the pounding, breathless onslaught; her eyes snapped open and she stood in astonished silence, her mouth falling slightly agape as she realized the one she touched was not who she thought!

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An Excerpt from Dark Fey The Reviled and an example of Ayla’s exceptional gift of Sense.

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Discover More about Dark Fey 

~Morgan~

Filed under: Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, creative writing, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Characters, Fantasy Preview, Kindle Books, Writing, YA Fantasy, ~Morgan~

#TBT – Faint Kiss – #Poetry of the #NaturalWorld

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Bright, in the darkness, Blessing Ringing,

Dancing Light in Willows weeds,

Clamouring Life, through the Mould is Springing,

Gracing All, as Growth goes to Seed.

Remember, then, in the Pitch of Night,

Blossoms Tarry for the Faint Kiss of Light.

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful photograph found on: alovinghealingspace.blogspot.com. Thank You!

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Harmony, Inspiration, life, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, relationships, spirituality, time, ~Morgan~

Rebirth – #DailyHaikuChallenge – #Inspirational #Poetry

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Shapes of Yesterday

Waiting in breathless Silence

For Rebirth to Spring

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 84 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photograph found on Pixadaus.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original Photographer. Thank You~

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, BnV, BooknVolume, Inspiration, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Poetry Prompt, relationships, Renewal, spirituality, Writing Prompt, ~Morgan~

#TBT – Break – #Inspirational #Poetry

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Break

Like Rain upon the Mourning Cloud,

Falling from the Tumbling Thunder

In Torrents of Refreshing chasms

That Cleanse and Renew,

Breaking

Down the barriers,

Changing bleak and miserable

Into New Growth and New Life,

Generating a Season of Joy

Broken

Only by the Gathering of Clouds

From which Rivers of Life

Shall once Again

Break

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~Morgan~

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Gorgeous Image found on Google Image Search.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original Photographer. Thank You~

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Faith, Grief, Inspiration, life, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Rain, Renewal, spirituality, ~Morgan~