Love Is The Only Remedy

by Iona Morrison | Feb 1, 2016

Sometimes the path to spring is paved with snow and ice. Beautiful but a little bumpy along the way. There are times when winter seem so long, but spring always comes.

“We have shards of truth, and we can gather them up, bits of broken mosaic tile that shine. We know that this is a very dangerous place, that we are an extremely vulnerable species, that Cain is still killing Abel.” Anne Lamott

So I ask why, which is not a useful question or where is grace, which is sometimes hard to see in life’s situations. When the winter of life seems so long, or I see tragedy which once again reminds me just how vulnerable I am as a human in this world; it leaves me wondering once again, what I can do to make a difference in a hurting world. Maybe the only answer is to simply live with love.

Love is the only remedy for hate, but it wouldn’t hurt if I stopped to think before I speak either. It might be a good idea too, if whatever light I have could be used to dispel the darkness and not as a tool of judgment or anger. I know it may sound simplistic to say in the face of the complex problems our world is facing, but it is reduced to this for me. I can impact my world the most by the changes I make and how I treat every person I meet. In the end the only person I can change is me. The process can be scary and beautiful. Something like the process of the earth awakening, blossoming, and growing, after a long cold winter.

Sit and Think

by Iona Morrison | Jan 13, 2016

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.
~Lorraine Hansberry

To think is to use one’s mind actively, to form connected ideas. It is to have an opinion, a belief, or an idea about something. It may also be about changing an idea after hearing other facts on the subject. It never hurts to take a moment to think.

My mother used to say to me, think before you speak. You can’t take the words back once they are out there. A simple idea really, but not always easy to do. More often than not, I would blurt out what popped into my mind, hurting someone else or at the very least walking away embarrassed with my foot in my mouth.

My ideas and beliefs were right after all, and those other folks just didn’t get the truth. I mean, wasn’t my opinion the only one that mattered? To maintain the feeling of being right and superior took a lot of work. I had to hang out with only those who agreed me. I couldn’t listen to someone who thought differently. Wow, what a crazy way to live. I can honestly say that I didn’t start to grow until I challenged myself to listen and to think outside my box.

With age I’ve learned that thinking first, can save you undo misery. It’s not my job to hurl insults at people, or criticize them. I can disagree with their ideas, and still not demonize who they are. The political season is a constant reminder to me of this. Before I’m a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, whether I’m conservative or liberal I’m first and foremost a human. I’ve made it my quest to find good in everyone  that I can and let that good be what I talk about. Okay, I’m not perfect and I can’t pretend that I am. Sometimes I have had to think really hard and  still I couldn’t find a positive thing to say. At that point I take Thumper’s mother’s advice. If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all. I do slip up and then I start over again.

I find time out works for me like it does for a child. Alone, on a chair, I spend time thinking, rearranging my thoughts, even changing some of them. In the end I find the old golden rule is still the best of all. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Of course, thinking is good for so many other things. It can get my creative juices flowing, take me out of my narrow world to see the bigger picture, and help me to understand how much I have in comparison to others in the world. Thoughts allow me to dream, consider new ideas, and expand my views. I’ve opened my mind in new ways and amazingly my brains have not fallen out.

Twice Baked Christmas by Alexia Stevens

by Iona Morrison | Dec 13, 2015

I would like to introduce you to Alexia Stevens a special friend I met on twitter. I know you’ll enjoy reading about her family Christmas traditions. She is the writer of a great blog which I hope you’ll check out.

Twice Baked Christmas

My favorite time of year is the Thanksgiving / Christmas holidays.  I enjoy watching Christmas movies year round because I like to stay in the warmness of the holiday season; everything from family and friends to the home baked goodness shared between family, friends and neighbors. And NO, I never ever tire of watching the movies year round.

One of our favorite traditions for Thanksgiving is that my father-in-law gives each member in our family a new tree ornament after the meal.  So, it’s like Christmas –twice.

Another tradition we have adopted is to choose one of the two holidays to have the traditional dinner.  During the other holiday, we snack –various crackers, cheeses, olives, summer sausage, etc.  Of course, throw in a good football game and we are good to go.  It keeps us from being burned out on turkey / ham or having too many sweets.  We do this when our extended families can’t join us.

Watching the Christmas movies year round inspires me as a writer.  I have written some children’s Christian workbooks that go with a summer camp I do, but I am venturing out into the creative world of fiction writing.  My two current works in progress are Mystery at Bear Creek Island and Southern Grace.   All of my works will most likely be set during the winter months – holiday time and anywhere from Georgia to the Canadian Rockies.

You can read short samples of my writings at www.alexiastevens.weebly.com and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/alexiastevens01.

My favorite is YA Mystery, YA Romance, and Earl Grey Tea – Come have a cup with me.

My Christmas Miracle by Susan Ricci

by Iona Morrison | Dec 6, 2015

I would like to introduce you to Susan Ricci. Susan and her husband Joe live in a  New Jersey town near the sea. Together they have seven children and nine grandchildren. Susan is an award-winning, internationally read, From Women’s Pens, author and humorist. I met Susan on Twitter and I follow her on Facebook. I know you will enjoy her story and while you’re at it you should check out her books if you enjoy romance.

My Christmas Miracle

At the risk of sounding melancholy, marvelous Christmas memories are either constant from birth, arrive late in life, or perhaps not at all. I eventually became one of the lucky ones, but the truth is, I doubted a Christmas marvel would ever happen to me. Although I was determined to ensure happy holidays for the sake of my children over three decades, I’d felt bereft of personally experiencing those Christmas magical wonders we all grew up believing. That is, until five years ago… My grown children were shocked I’d even consider remarrying that Christmas in 2010, when Joe and I became engaged. Joe had asked me to marry him earlier Christmas morning, on bended knee no less. I was honored and quite flustered as a young bride-to-be, when I accepted him as my future husband. Later, Joe, my family, and me were all sitting at the dining room table enjoying Christmas dinner. Suddenly, my youngest daughter saw the beautiful aquamarine and diamond ring on the appropriate finger and yelled, “Mommy’s wearing a ring!” My oldest cried, “Oh my God!” and my only son simply looked dazed. Not quite the reaction I was hoping for, but in truth, I wasn’t surprised. My marital past had been fraught with failure. I’d divorced my children’s father after twenty-five years of miscommunication and abuse, and immediately hopped aboard the relationship train with my Jewish boss. Both of us had been friends for many years, and thought by changing that friendship into a romantic connection, we’d soon find the happiness that eluded us in our former marriages. We tied the knot five years later. Because of his religious beliefs, my second husband didn’t celebrate Christmas. Oh, he gave me expensive gifts and told me I’d be allowed to have a Christmas tree and such, but his heart wasn’t in it, and I knew it. Our differences were apparent in other ways as well, and after four short years, the marriage ended. So did my employment at his office. A year later, the Zeppelin, also known as Joe, entered my life and with his arrival came joy, love, and security, and my new best friend. My children did their best to dissuade me from marrying again. My youngest daughter told me, “He’s just marrying you for sex.” “So what?” I’d responded. “How lucky can a gal over half a century old get?” My son thought Joe might be marrying me for my money. “Money?” I laughed. “He’s the one with the money.” And so it went. I even received a text from one of the kids on my wedding day in Hawaii saying, “It’s still not too late.” Needless to say, five happy years later, Joe has been the inspiration for every story that has been ever created by my muse, also known as Cindy Layton. There’s an element of truth in everything I’ve ever published, however slight, and if it wasn’t for my loving husband, I’d probably be a bitter, old hag writing stagnant summaries of prose that have no meaning. What began as a journal, while Joe and I were dating, evolved into the novel Dinosaurs and Cherry Stems. The story earned several prestigious awards for Humor and Romance the past several years, and my husband’s enthusiastic encouragement was key in creating my first published novel. Joe’s love for me is my true Christmas miracle. This year, as we celebrate the holiday season, we do this together under our first roof as man and wife. We’ve sold our previous homes, his and mine, and bought one together. In short, we’ve renovated both the house and our lives. I think that constitutes a pretty decent Christmas Miracle, don’t you?

 https://www.facebook.com/DinosaursCherryStems/