A Center Force

“You know? You and your husband are the newest Omphalos.” Princess MayRose mused to her cousin.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, you’re the daughter of a powerful Royal couple and your husband is an Emperor.”

“And?” Indira sighed.

MayRose sighed. “Do you not understand? You two are the common link between two extremes. Your union has created a powerful center. Use this to influence peace around you. Otherwise, your links to other kingdoms will be used as strings by the evil ones and you the puppets. You cannot be indifferent to what you possess!”

With this post, the Weekend Writing Prompt has been going for a full five years! Where has the time gone? Thanks so much to everyone who joins in.  It’s lovely to have you all here. ~ Sammi A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend.  How you use the prompt is up to […]

Weekend Writing Prompt #260- Omphalos

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Crownie’s Chronicles

“Can you imagine?” Crownie asked Meg, in what one can describe as an after-shock.

“One moment I was in an impromptu eye-lock with a handsome Shiekh, the next I was being called to give an impromptu wedding toast to the new couple!”

“You didn’t faint?”

“Wish I did!”

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend.  How you use the prompt is up to you.  Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like.  Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. […]

Weekend Writing Prompt #258- Impromptu

Oh What a Year!

Hello Everyone!

Permit me to say, it’s been busy for everyone, as our lives as we knew it (yes knew) has been rearranged, reshuffled, upended and any other word you can think of. 

And no. No one asked whether we wanted this change, but here we are!

For some of us, there has been no difference, or at least not much of a difference.

I suppose this is an exam on how flexible we really are as individuals.

How flexible was our schedules, our lifestyle, our minds, among other things?

One thing about flexibility is that, it’s when you need to twist to safe your life or at least assert your freedom, that it becomes obvious how flexible or rusty you are.

A lot of us have pulled a muscle or two, in this pandemic. It was either twist or break! Since breaking isn’t an option, twist it is. And if you are rusty, well…sorry about the muscle pull.

Funny, how some who don’t believe in Jesus Christ are wishing for the second coming.

As a Christian, I seriously doubt this is it, though I advice you prepare yourself by giving your life to Christ, reading the Bible and obeying the promptings of God in your conscience.

Be that as it may, we all need to find what our new normal is. 

Let us as individuals, look at what we do have and work with that to provide the essentials for ourselves.

I think no one can claim they have priority issues; but just in case: It’s food and shelter. I doubt you or I need much of any clothing to stay indoors.

For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind. 2Timothy 1:7

Stay safe, healthy, and at peace.

Shalom!

Entrepreneurship: Why?

Hello WondeBeau People!

It’s been long since I have been here — and I know I say that all the time or at least most of the time, so please bear with me. 

Starting a business is very trendy, especially in this fast and sometimes jaw-dropping millennium we find ourselves.

If you are not starting a business, you are mostly seen and regarded as a “lazy coward” — which I must say isn’t mostly true

Starting a business is more in vogue than anything the fashion plate has to offer. Infact, owning a business is the fashion plate.  

I think the — permit me to use this word — craze for owning a business stems from the wanting to be independent, or rather the declaration of independence.

After all, if you start a business, it’s a serious and responsible thing you are doing. And people will commend your folks on how well they’ve raised you, for you to venture out on your own. Even if your folks are unsure of what you’re about but they have a pretty good idea why you are about it, they will be forced to half-heartedly acknowledge that you are indeed doing something noteworthy. But…

I must say, that’s probably the most inspiring trend that has come out of this generation. I mean you can’t really blame our parents for being sceptical.

Their child who has always been getting into one scrap or the other, with parents having to clean up after them, wondering what on earth they’ve done to deserve their ordeal. And half wondering if their past — whatever that may have been — is demanding payment from them through their carefree juvenile of a child.

Then all of a sudden, the child who probably is now a teen or young adult becomes serious — way too serious for comfort and the parents are thinking, “Here we go again!”

Here they are, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Next thing is, “I want to start this business…”

And they’re thinking, “What now. Is s/he doing drugs?

Then they find out — in most cases — that their children has indeed found his/her legal genius. There was never a time they thought their children weren’t geniuses. They simply were geniuses in the wrong.

So most of the time startups had to get support from self and maybe later from the government or NGOs that support new business ventures.

It’s trilling to say, I’m an entrepreneur. Or I’m self-employed.

What does it mean? And most importantly what does it take be an entrepreneur?

Sometimes, starting a business is an avenue to vent your spleen, to release your pent up emotions or to release something that had been suppressed. To show those who think you are nobody, that you will be somebody.

I think that’s a fantastic productive way of fighting the demons — as long as you don’t run out of steam. Or you have plans on how to continue when you run out of steam.

There’s something about starting a business that exposes your weaknesses and flaws.

You need to know how to manage yourself before you can effectively and efficiently manage a business.

Earlier I was presented a question on: How do you define self-management as a lady? (even auto correct is wondering ‘what da hey?’)

Apparently this was asked in a job interview (phenomenal).

I didn’t know how to answer that question because I wasn’t familiar with that word. 

I could have responded by saying, ‘the ability to manage yourself’ and that would have been too cheeky of me. So as I usually handled things I didn’t understand, I shelved it.

The first thing that came to mind was organisation. Being able to coordinate yourself in an organised manner in a way that enhances productivity — no matter what you might be going through and irrespective of your stress level.

Now, it would be nice if that describes me, but it doesn’t — at the moment.

I express how I feel, I don’t manage it — though I’m trying to. 

Now I suspect that if you’re been asked that question in an interview, they want to find out if you can keep your personal life personal, without allowing it spill into your work life, thereby affecting how productive you are. Never crack, or fall apart no matter what. 

In other words, self-management involves your health: Taking sick leave or being physically sluggish at work, could probably be defined by the employer as, not being able to manage your health, thereby affecting your work!

If one has family problems and becomes distracted and lethargic at work, that may be defined as: being unable to control your emotions making logic and reason difficult in the work place!

If you just had your baby (congratulations!) and you need ma/paternity leave and/or extra breaks during work to take care of yourself and your babies, then you may be termed as: being unable to separate work from family/personal matters thereby reducing productivity in the work place!

In other words, whatever keeps you from giving your 100% at work is no business of the company.

What they are asking is, can you keep working per demand irrespective of what may or may not be going on in your life?

I may be overthinking things of course, but I can’t help but think this is a trick question meant to qualify, disqualify or trap an unsuspecting applicant. By the time the would-be employee knows what this is or may be about, it would have been too late to have a say in the matter.

I mean, self-management?! Come on.

Which is probably one of the major reasons why people are overcoming their fear of starting businesses and launching into the world of entrepreneurship, head first.

The other option is becoming less and less of an option. Working for someone else is becoming more unconducive by the day. Some are fortunate to work with companies who are humane and truly care for the overall well-being of their staff, but many don’t have that fortune.

The code word for this millennium is freedom. Having your own business, seems to be the only way to gain your financial independence, while maintaining your freedom of what, when and how you compromise…..

Shalom! 

Courage for Today.

Hi Beautiful People.

I feel tired and overwhelmed and restless.

I feel tired of being too tired to be who I wanted to be — who I want to be.

Having plans sometimes is like setting oneself up to fail.

I mean tell me:

What do I do when I make plans and things don’t fall into place because the obstacles were much?

Well, I reverted back to prayers.

Of course, I have always prayed. But there’s praying and there’s praying.

There’s praying in your head and there’s my-heart-is-bleeding-I-can’t-take-this-anymore praying.

Praying with a bleeding heart, is like trying to burst a boil at maturity. It’s painful to touch, much less squeeze and it throbs painfully without being touched.

To leave it on it’s own is not an option, because the pain increases to the point of insomnia.

So you have to clench your teeth against the pain and burst the boil. Once you do, you feel better and relieved.

Sometimes until the pain of where we are stuck in, is greater than the pain of breaking free, we might not pursue true liberty –Paraphrased from the novel “The Last Ten Percent” by Michelle McKinney Hammond

Breaking free can be a Herculean task, but it’s not impossible.

Speaking of Herculean tasks, I recall — not that I have been able to forget — the movie “Hercules” whose lead actor is Dwayne Johnson (I think I might watch it again).

I don’t know if I have written this before, but I believe Dwayne found his true calling in acting. He may have wanted to be a sports man, but his size and skills makes him a better actor as warrior in period/medieval movies.

Back to Hercules.

There are lots of lessons to glean from the movie, but the one that relates most to this particular “muse-ticle” on the issue of pain, is best described by my latest finding on this popular quote:

What doesn’t kill you……

Had. Better. Run!!!!

If you are going through pain I recommend Hercules the movie, featuring Dwayne Johnson — I had to add that, because I don’t know if there are other movie versions.

Hercules had lost enough to kill a man, but when he found the truth about his painful past under …less than congenial circumstances, the truth set him free. And in setting himself free others also gained their freedom right along with him.

No wonder, Jesus Christ said and I quote:

Ye shall know the truth and the truth will make you free.

End quote.

A pastor recently said the word make in that scripture is deliberate and has it’s meaning to the text, but we will talk about that in other muse-letters.

Hercules was legendary for his brute strength and his long strings of victory, but he was running away from a memory.

Which brings me to another point:

To be free from a pain you must gather the courage exclusive for it, because you can’t borrow courage from another experience or victory. You need to begin courage or encourage yourself all over again. Therefore, courage is exclusive.

That’s why we see that many of us are fearless in so many aspects, yet have deep seated phobias in one or more areas of our lives. Phobias we choose to ignore, but they are there waiting — waiting to spring unpleasant surprises on us in our most vulnerable moments.

I wish courage was all encompassing. I really do, because it makes the business of living much easier.

But unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you see it, courage or encouragement does not work that. And I’m learning that the hard way.

This reminds me of the prophet Elijah — the prophet who called down fire more than once in his day. The prophet who never tasted death. Went straight to heaven alive in heavenly escort of horses and chariots of fire.

I mean, that was some serious wonderment that amazes me every time I think about it.

Yet, the same man who stopped rain and called it down when it suited him. Who escaped arrest many times just by disappearing and appearing wherever and whenever he wanted;

Ran away….. ran away, when a witch threatened him!

Some say God had to call him home earlier than planned, because he allowed himself to be frightened by something less than what he had crushed in the past.

The explanation I have for that is: his courage failed him or he lost courage.

This leads me to believe that courage is food we need to injest daily, to be able to withstand unforseen threats that may distabilize us.

Courage is food we need to learn how to feed ourselves with i.e personal encouragement.

We can’t leave our encouragement in the hands of others. Because it’s not always, we can have someone around us to encourage us. Like Dwayne Johnson’s character in Hercules had.

When we depend on yesterday’s meal to sustain us, we would soon faint.

The same applies to courage.

Shalom🌿💚🌴

Sea Sick, Land Love!

“Very well, my little cherry. If I tell you a story will you allow me to rest?” Empress Indira wearily asked her barely one year old plump and sassy princess.

The only response she got was more bouncy squeals of delight.

Indira laughed inspite herself. She was tired. Being the ruler queen of one kingdom and the queen wife of an emperor, was tasking — if one took one’s responsibilities seriously, that is.

Presently, her little one was gnawing at the emerald on her veil.

She sighed. She should have known that when BrunFreid was quiet, she was up to something.

Just as she was about to scold the little princess, her princess cousin wandered in.

Her beautiful cousin — who has spent most of her life touring the world on business — prefered the sea to land, hence her interest in any family affair that involves travelling on water. Which is why she was surprised by her cousin’s visit to her new home.

‘Greetings Brunnie, enjoying a late evening repast? Emerald? Only the best for her little highness’, Indira’s cousin teased.

‘Her name is BrunFreid, MayRose.’, Indira corrected.

‘But what sort of name is that?’

“It’s the name given her by her parents — coined from her parents’ names — when they gifted her to me to raise and to comfort me after Carlos’ death…. You already know the story.”

“Aye. But I find it hard to understand why a mother will give up her child. Especially when she’s a warrior queen with a warrior king as husband.”,  MayRose wondered as she tried to pull the emerald from Brunnie’s stubborn gums.

“I suspect it’s gratitude for helping them secure their relationship and to secure the heiress-apparent to the thrones, if her parents can’t manage to give her siblings to share the burden of kingdom leadership”, Indira mused as her daughter protested the lose of her gums’ gem, while MayRose cheered in victory.

“You are hopeless, May“, Indira chuckled.

“Since when did it become hopeless to cheer in victory?” May asked with a straight face.

“Since when the conquered is a child” Indira replied.

The cousins burst into giggles. As the conquered tried to take a stand, while her nursemaid hovered near by.

“Tell me, about your travels, May.”

“It’s being an adventure. Too much of it, I fear. For I’m sea weary at the moment. The storms — praying your ship does not fall apart.” May paused as she took a healthy drink of fruit juice.

“The good side of it is the feeling you get at sea, like you have a different world all to yourself. A sense of freedom. Then when you dock, the feeling of mingling with different kinds of people with languages and cultures different from yours”, May thought aloud.

“How is the emperor with Brun, I’ra?”

“Those two? They like each other. He likes children and she thinks he’s the best thing after her favourite fruit. She’s grins at him everytime.”

“You jest.” May said in amazement.

“Indeed not”

“Intriguing. What about you?” May queried seriously.

“What about me?” Indira wondered.

“Aye You. Madame Queen. Do you like your husband?” May persisted.

“Yes.” Indira replied a bit shyly.

“Hmmm. And what do you intend to do about it?” May queried.

“Nothing really. Except take my time and let our relationship grow naturally”, Indira mused.

“So, what do you think of my brother-in-law?”, The Empress asked as she recalled how smitten the king — ruling with his emperor brother  — was of her cousin when she arrived.

“Nothing”, drawled May hesitantly as she wondered were Indira was headed with her line of questioning.

“Well, I was wondering since you are sea sick, you might consider him as someone you could start a family with”, Indira suggested.

“You don’t say, Malika”, May drawled as her eyes lightened with amused understanding.

“And what happens to him when I get land sick?”, May asked in rhetoric.

Indira didn’t know how to respond to that. She simply worried if her cousin will ever settle in love.

She looked into her cousin’s jade eyes, conveying her thoughts and her cousin looked back at her with an answering thought,

“Soon my friend. I will consider him. But like you, If it is to be, it has to be natural and I will not  be hastened.”

“Well, I found this cobbled walk-way beside the sea, I think we should all take a walk.” Princess MayRose suggest as she got up and adjusted her hooded bejewelled dress.

“Excellent. It would seem you have been spying on my husband’s lands”, Indira teased as she pulled her veil over her face in preparation to leave her palace. She had to. This was not her father’s kingdom where it was forbidden to look at the women of the royal family. Here the high ranking officers could look, and she did not like the way some of them gawked at her. Hence, the veil.

“I was touring, not spying. There is a distinct difference, I believe”, May replied as she walked with her cousin while the Empress entourage preceded and followed in orderly procession.

A clash of steel sounded ahead as spears were crossed to stop an orderly from moving any further towards the procession.

Her head maid approached, bowed and said, “A message from His Highness, my Queen.”

“Tell the orderly to approach and tell me the message”,  Empress Indira ordered.

“My Queen, His Highness requests your presence at the cobbled walkway beside the sea, if you desire to see the shipment you requested as they are unloaded”, the orderly said with head bowed.

“Is my lord Emperor there?” Indira asked.

“Yes indeed, your Highness”, replied the orderly.

“Very well. Tell my lord, I’m on my way there, and I would very much like to see the cargo.” replied the Empress.

“Yes, your Highness” the orderly said as he ran towards his horse and rode off.

“Perfect timing, I must say, cousin.” May said.

“Indeed, May” Indira replied with a bit of excitement.

Because she was adamant to walk on her own feet, it took a bit of time to get there.

It looked quite foggy over the endless looking sea. Walking on the cobblestone felt like she was walking on a ship. Another thinking spot, Indira thought.

Or meeting spot, as she sighted her husband around the descending curve leading to the shore.

“Greetings, my fair queen” Her husband said as he smiled and greeted with a slight bow.

“Greetings, my king. Your day faired well I hope? ” Indira said with a smile.

“My day fairs much better after seeing you”, The Emperor replied as he gazed into his wife’s eyes.

MayRose gave a delicate snort of amusement, as she witnessed the interaction between her cousin and her husband.

The Emperor glanced her way, gave a slight bow and said,

“Greetings, Princess. I hope you are already enjoying your stay here?”

“I am. Thank you, your Highness. I’m honoured by your hospitality”, May replied with a slight bow of her own.

The Emperor smiled with a, “Shall we? ”

“Aye”, the cousins replied in unison and smiled at each other as they walked excitedly the surprisingly beautiful shore towards the boxed treasures of far off lands being delivered on the shore.
https://scvincent.com/2018/07/19/thursday-photo-prompt-summit-writephoto/  #writephoto

I’m Back?

Hello Amazing people! How have you been holding up and holding the fort of this vast blogging community?

 I have missed been here. And it’s not because I have nothing to say, but because I felt overwhelmed by other things going on in my life, so much so that it demanded my full attention. I ended up feeling too exhausted to come here, much less write anything.

Generally speaking? I can say it’s a woman’s thing. Pardon me, fellow women who can’t relate. I’m happy for you. Truly.

 If something is off in any area of our lives, we try to shoulder everything at the same time — pointlessly so — because we start running on fumes then we burn out and something slips out of our hands. And we hope against hope, that it’s not something breakable that will shatter to smitterings at our tired feet, while we look on with a dazed tired look.

We dare not try to pack up the mess we unwittingly created, otherwise something else might fall from us and crash — again.

At that point, we are too tired to scream, so all we want to do is kick off our shoes, find a place to curl up and have a good cry.

The result of outward things slipping and falling, are reflections of things falling apart on the inside of us. So instead of us to do the sensible deed, of properly handling the issues before they get out of hand, we decide to play ostrich — avoiding a situation by getting overtly involved in other things, until we can no longer get involved in anything.

When I say anything, I mean anything! We don’t want to get out bed. We binge on food, movies or anything else. Personal grooming? What’s dat? It’s gone out of the window. We end up looking and behaving as messy as we feel. Aren’t those signs of depression? Oh well. Crap happens.

I didn’t get that off my rocker — this time. But still, I felt angry and weary. 

I did binge on food and a Zee World TV series. Pretty healthy food though, I think?

The series was Jodha Akbar. Pretty gripping after about the 10th episode. I will tell you more about that later.

Now back to things slipping and shattering to smithereens at tired feet.

It could be a marriage hitting the rocks — God forbid! It could be a relationship gone south. A business or career nose diving or plummeting. A child in trouble or troubled, or both. Family brouhaha. These are fragile precious things that must not slip, but unfortunately sometimes they do.

In mine case, I slipped from the gathering of the brethren, blogging, personal spiritual exercises. For months. I think it’s because they reminded me — painfully so — what I don’t have, yet, that I believe I should have had eons ago. 

I felt, ‘Who was I fooling? My enemies lives suck (not mine, thank you!)’ 

It‘s a feeling I fall into from time to time, until God picks me up and keeps me moving.

I don’t feel 100% optimistic yet, but by God’s grace I’m getting more stable by the day.

I just pray that everything falls into the rightful place in my life, soon. 

More specifically, I pray that ‘the lines fall unto me in pleasant places‘, according to Psalms 16, so that I will be ‘comforted on every side’ according to Psalm 71. 

It is well🌴Shalom🌿