Cynthia A. Morgan's Blog, page 43

All That Is -The Mathematical Probability That We Aren’t Alone

The image above may look like the night sky filled with stars, but in fact each spot of light you see is an entire galaxy.

Pause for a moment and really drink that in. Each source of light you see is a galaxy, filled with stars, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, nebulae, quazars, pulsars, black holes, dark matter, and, possibly, some form of life.

How Many Stars Are Out There?

The Milky Way has about 100 billion stars. Using the Milky Way as our model, we can multiply the number of stars in a typical galaxy (100 billion) by the number of galaxies in the universe (2 trillion).

There are approximately 200 billion trillion stars in the universe. Or, to put it another way, 200 sextillion.

That’s 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! — Brian Jackson, Associate Professor of Astronomy, Boise State University

I don’t know about you, but that number staggers me. It’s more than my mind can fathom. 200 sextillion stars, each one a possibility.

Is There a Mathematical Probability of Life?

“There are four hundred billion stars out there, just in our galaxy alone. If only one out of a million of those had planets, and just of out of a million of those had life, and just one out of a million of those had intelligent life; there would be literally millions of civilizations out there.” — Contact (1997)

Whether you believe in the possibility of extraterrestrial life or not, all those numbers can’t help but make you wonder. At least, it makes me wonder. I’m a ‘glass is half-full’ person, I suppose. I tend to believe in the possibility, simply because we have no proof either way. I’d rather believe in the beautiful possibility than limit my perceptions to the cold, stark black and white.

Keeping an open mind about possibilities also means I ask a lot of questions, to which there are rarely black and white answers. Questions like, why should I believe Humanity is alone in the universe?

Wondering While Wandering

Humans are, by their very nature, curious creatures. The unknown is alluring, after all. If it wasn’t, we might still be living in caves, grunting and pointing rather than doing all the remarkable (and sometimes not so remarkable) things we now are able to do, because someone along the way was curious.

We don’t have all the answers, and probably never will, but there are ample questions to consider. Such as, should consciousness and spirituality only apply to humanity? Why should it not apply to all creation, whether flesh or stone, bark or gelatinous, alien or earthly?

Why shouldn’t life have sprung up elsewhere in the vastness of the cosmos? Aren’t the building-blocks of life present everywhere? And who’s to say life has to be what we consider life? Must it be flesh and blood of some sort, or could it be something else entirely. Energy perhaps. Gaseous. Infintesimal or gargantuine.

Perhaps, like the aspen grove in Utah that consists of over 47,000 individual trees yet is one organism, life elsewhere in the universe might be similarly designed.

Conspiracy Theories Aside

Media of all sorts have led us to believe aliens mutilate animals, abduct people to experiment on them, and are plotting to take over the planet, but what if they’re not? What if all the horror stories are just that? What if ET really is like ET? Or, for that matter, like us?

Curious. Explorers. Fragile.

“There are more things of Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” — Shakespeare

We live in a time where little is unknown, yet, all that is known is little in comparison to that which is unknown.

Being then lead by faith and truth and virtue, we seek and question, knowing that we can only ever touch the most infinitesimal surface of All that Is.

~Morgan~

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Photo by Guillermo Ferla

He Sleeps – #Poetry of #Love and #Passion

He Sleeps

In Stillness, Like a Dream Breathing;

Captivating my Every Sense with Beauty,

like the Stars of Night,

He Sleeps;

Angel motionless Upon a pillow,

So Enchanting, I dare not close my eyes

Lest I miss one Single Moment while

He Sleeps.

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~Morgan~
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Beautiful Photography found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original Photographer and Model.

~Thank You ~

Present Pauses – #LovePoem

Sweet and Splendid is the Vision of You, Love.
My heart knows no other,
But Truth will Speak in mortal tones
And Lapse in silence upon the Morrow.

When if, Perchance, Hope strays from me,
Twill ne’re again come to my eye,
That One as Beautiful as Thee,
Should fill my heart with Smiles.

Chance is but a Token Treasure,
Love is Faithful, Patiently,
When my heart Beats, but for You,
Present Pauses for Eternity.

~Morgan~

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Beautiful photograph found on Pinterest.

Moonlight – #Love #Poetry

Moonlight is Dancing
At the edge of my Sight.
Drifting like shadows Cast into the fray;
Tempting me to close my eyes,
Weaving Magic Unparalleled by day.

Starlight is Drifting
Through my Waking Fancy.
Casting their Light Upon the morn;
Entreating me to Gaze up wonderingly
To the Place where Souls are Born.

Twilight is Transcending,
Like Whispers to my Inner Peace.
Chanting like primal Melody, Singing;
Eluding to Murmurs yet to come,
And All the shivers they are Bringing.

~Morgan~

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Beautiful image found at: http://www.plusmood.com

Hope Spilling – #LovePoetry

Rapture Pours from Heaven,
Imbuing my Every Thought,
Guiding my Every Notion,
To Love You with Every Beat of my Heart,
Every Breath, Every Glance,
Every Sigh, Every Dream,
Every Longing,
Each day Drawing Our Hearts Together,
Each hour Builds the Yearning,
Each moment Blessings Counting,
Each second Delicious Expectancy,
Hope Spilling in Endless fashion,
Waiting,
For Blessed and Perfect Timing.

~Morgan~
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Photography found at: http://www.kristinoliver.com

All That Is- #Poetry of #Spirituality

All that is Beautiful rushes in synchronicity to You;
All that is Wondrous, encircles You as Divinity;
All that is Marvelous Kneels before You in Awe;
All that is Splendid Reveals Your Grace and Glory.

Magnify my Love, That I should Ever Seek You;
Touch my Heart with Blessing I may Share;
Spill over from my Heart with Words Unending,
That All my Love should Ever Praise You.

~Morgan~

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This Beautiful Image was Found on Pinterest.com. Although I do not know who the original artist is, I give credit here for their breathtaking work.

Storm- #Poetry of the #NaturalWorld

Torrent of Wind,
Writhing;
Shock of Thunder,
Vibrating;
Sprawl of Lightening,
Stretching;
Rush of Water,
Pounding;
Hyperbole of Snow,
Crashing;
Ribbon of Light,
Promising.

~Morgan~

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Incredible Image found at: http://www.travel.nationalgeographic.com

Influence- #poetry of #passion and #nature

Supple.

Sweet.

Young and untouched.

Verdant

Delicious and green.

Bending to my will.

Soft and Tender.

Swaying under the influence

Of the wind.

~Morgan~

 

 

Fragmentation and Observation – A #WritingExercise to #Recharge Your #Creativity

 

When my mind gets stuck in the day-to-day grind, my writing invariably suffers. My creative juices seem to drain away until I find myself channel surfing for a distraction from my own stagnation. Consequently, I get absolutely nothing accomplished.

The Zen Zone

When I was growing up I spent a lot of time in wilderness areas, whether camping, hiking, playing as a child, or, as I got older, meditating. When I began the latter, I discovered my own ‘Zen Zone’; a sense of complete relaxation when surrounded by the splendors of earth and nature where I could refresh, reconnect, and recharge.

Many times, my meditations would be undirected and were little more than quiet moments where I allowed the evening carols of birds, the symphony of the evening breeze, and the serenade of sunlight or moonlight to strip away the chaos and stress of the day or week. I would close my eyes and center my attention on the simplest thing. Lay in the grass to watch ants scurry or bees buzz and let everything else fall away.

These moments of quietness not only refreshed me spiritually, but also refueled my creativity. They became an easily accessible retreat where I refocused on what I found important and reinitialized the magic of imagination and creativity.

The Mini-Retreat

The concept of recharging our creative batteries isn’t new. Just like sleeping when we’re tired or eating when we’re hungry, giving ourselves what we need to maintain creative health is equally important, particularly if you’re a writer! Giving yourself a mini-retreat where you can do this can easily become part of your writing routine and it takes very little preparation.

First, find a quiet place. It doesn’t necessarily have to be outdoors, but should be somewhere you can see, hear, touch, smell and possible taste your surroundings.

Next, utilizing all of your senses, inspect, observe and sift through every nuance of your surroundings within five or ten square feet of where you are sitting. If you can’t get outdoors, you can use your imagination instead. Find a beautiful picture and place yourself in it.

In a journal or notebook, write down each of your five senses. Then, explore every facet of the things around you, writing down whatever comes to mind about your surroundings. Don’t limit yourself to making sense or trying to organize right now. Just breathe and write.

An Example

Lying back upon the grass in my quiet little yard under the glimmering glow of a nearly full moon.

(Listen) : hearing most prominently the whirring sound of many a/c units running. Once I put that aside however, I heard the gentle whisper of the breeze telling me secrets from far away and the occasional chirp of a bird (which always makes my imagination stir. Why do they sing at night? Are they having a bad dream? Did some creature steal into the nursery to snatch a fledgling? Or are they, too, simply enjoying the shimmering show of the moon?) I heard the distant rumble of a train and, as ever, the garish noise of traffic from the city not far enough away.

(See): Opening my eyes, I saw first the spectacle of the moon, dancing amid a rolling tide of puffy white clouds sailing effortlessly across the sky. I saw the shadows of trees across the way and the rustling of their leafy tresses as the night breezes ran their fingers through their hair. I noticed a nearby rabbit, no doubt awaiting another slice of apple as I am in a habit of giving them apples in the evening; and of course, I saw the stars: those delicate sparkles of ethereal light that ever fill me with lyrical musing (but that is another post!)

(Smell): I drew a deep breath and smelled the warm humidity that hung on the air like heavy fog mixed with a hint of asphalt from the nearby road. Not terribly pleasant, but not repulsive. Clean, hot night air. Nothing more.

(Taste): Since I was not eating or drinking, I tasted nothing. Not a wasted sense, though, as I certainly could have been sipping sweet lemonade.

(Touch): Reaching down I ran my fingers through the July grass that is rapidly drying up and turning into something much more straw-like than it once had been. I tousled the heads of a few clovers, now resting from the scurrying-hurrying bees that plunder their sweetness all the day long; and I reached outward to caress the sky, feeling the warm blush of the air against my palms and slipping through my fingers as I sighed deeply and smiled, meditating upon the simple yet profound Blessing of five extraordinary senses.

Five by Five

Refresh. Reconnect. Recharge. Refocus. Reinitialize.
through using
Sight. Sound. Taste. Smell. Touch.

I do hope you will try this wonderful exercise. It can help create a plethora of potential scenes for any number of creative projects, stir the inspiration of your thoughts, or, at the very least, kindle the wonder of your spirit in the beauty of the world around us.

 

 

~Morgan~

Photo by Drew Dizzy Graham on Unsplash

The Realms Beyond – A View of ‘Heaven and Hell’ that’s Believable

Preface to a Preface

I’m currently writing a Dystopian Fantasy centered around the Archangel of Mercy and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In this series, the Archangel of Mercy, Tzadkiel, (tZahd-kee-el) has taken human form and come to earth in search of a single person who understands mercy and who exemplifies compassion and forgiveness. It’s a tall order for humans living nearly 2500 years in the future. 

Why? Because in the future I’ve created, humans have become heartless, selfish monsters. Governments have deteriorated into harsh feudal dictatorships and justice is a thing of the past. Before the final Horseman rides, bringing death to most of the earth’s remaining population, Tzadkiel has asked for mercy. A stay of execution so he can prove humanity has not completely lost its heart by finding even just one person who still exemplifies mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.

His search takes nearly a century….

World-Building for the Real World

Typically, when writing any sort of fantasy or science fiction, a writer can spend as much time creating the world or realm for the story as they do actually writing the scenes. Even when writing a dystopian piece that takes place right here on Earth, there’s often a lot of time spent world-building. My story is no different, particularly because part of it takes place in ‘Heaven’.

To help readers understand ‘The-why-behind-the-what’, I wrote a preface for book three of the series, since this is when the scenes that take place ‘off world’ come into play. It’s my own view, built upon pieces of scripture, Sunday school classes, church sermons, and various discussions throughout my life. 

After completing the preface, I gave it to a few Beta-Readers and their responses surprised me. They told me my description of ‘Heaven and Hell’ helped them understand the concept better than they did previously. That my notion of ‘Heaven and Hell’ made so much sense to them, they believed it. Needless to say, I was as pleased as I was surprised. 

A Fantasy for a Fantasy 

Not everyone believes in ‘Heaven and Hell’ and there are many theories about the realms of the afterlife. What I’ve written is meant to be fiction, a fantasy written for a fantasy, however, after the reaction my Beta-Readers had, I admit that curiosity has gotten the best of me. I couldn’t resist sharing it here to see what other readers think.

What follows is the entire preface I’ve written for book three of The Mercy Series. I invite you to share your thoughts about it, as a preface for a fantasy story and as a possible description of what we know so little about. 

The Beyond, Below and Beneath

Long before human beings were created, the Angels and Archangels existed; their abode, the Realm Beyond. Beyond the Earth-plane. Beyond cognitive perception. Beyond sight, sound, and touch. 

The Beyond is where all forms of energy originated and to where all forms of energy ultimately return. It is where perfection is considered the norm and where all beings are made up of energy that is in harmony with everything around them. In this place, darkness and light, positive and negative, power and fragility are balanced. There is no evil intent and there are no selfish thoughts. It is a place of peace and harmony where each energy that exists has a purpose and each purpose encompasses positivity.

In the great spans of time before the reign of humans, a portion of the dark energy that existed in harmony with the light separated from everything around it. Its purpose became sullied; its compassion grew self-limiting and its native generosity twisted into greed. This dark force learned how to draw power from the bright, positive energy surrounding it. Driven by lust for greater power, it began taking and manipulating, perverting and distorting, beguiling and twisting all with whom it came into contact until its influence threw everything into imbalance.

Like a contagion against which the body defends itself, the malignant, encompassing dark force was opposed by the positive forces around it. The battle that ensued was mighty and pitched the entire cosmos into chaos. Some energies were lost and others chose to follow where others would not, yet ultimately positive energy prevailed. Banished to the Realm Beneath, the corruption of darkness was expelled from the Beyond.

It was not destroyed.

To eliminate the opposite of itself, even though it posed a great threat, would be to create instability. That instability would cause an imbalance more disruptive than the darkness was on its own. The Realm Beyond is balance and equanimity to its very core. It cannot create what it is not; thus, the darkness was expelled, but not eliminated.

Between these two opposing dominions lies the Middle Realm. The Beneath, also known as the Earth-plane. It is the kingdom of all that is corporeal and the domain where every creature, rock, tree, and element has both positive and negative energy within it. It is the median between two powerful extremes and all that exists in the Beneath sways in a never-ending pursuit of stability.

These three realms are connected by corridors only those native to the Beyond and the Beneath can traverse. These avenues of transition are utilized every hour of the day and night as the quest to maintain equilibrium continues. The realm of darkness seeks to consume and overtake, while the abode of positivity strives to achieve harmony.

In an attempt to balance the disorder created by the expulsion of dark energy from their realm, each Archangel gave a portion of themselves in the creation of humanity. Positive attributes such as strength, loyalty, kindness, patience, obedience, forgiveness, and mercy were gifted and human beings took breath.

 They were fragile beyond their understanding; nevertheless, they took dominion over all other forms of life in the Beneath. As the wheels of time turned, the Earth-plane became a realm of conflict where light and dark, good and evil, generosity and corruption perpetually clashed, and where, more often than not, darkness prevailed.

The delicate balance shifted unceasingly until the imbalance, once again, was too great to ignore.

In a final effort to achieve lasting stability, four powers of inconceivable influence were released.

The Horsemen Ride.

~Morgan~

~Thank You for reading ~

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