The first sentences of my historical literary novel ICARUS go like this . . .
I always dreamed of an island of safety, far, far away from here. It is there I lost a piece of me, and I want to go back to pick up those pieces I left behind, to feel whole again.
“The official mourning period of our Great Leader began on July 8th and will end on July 17th. We will change the sorrow into strength and bravery,” The announcement continues and reverberates through the camp. The aluminium, scratchy sound feels like it scratches my soul. My mouth hangs open as I look around.
“God is dead?” I whisper.
One of my two protagonists, Un-byol from the Hermit Kingdom, dreams of peace and freedom from inside the confines of his dark, treacherous labour camp. He has been sentenced, like many others, to an abusive life of lack and anguish.
Peace and freedom are some of our basic human rights. In ICARUS, I explore the journey of life, the journey through the underworld, the hero’s journey of facing oneself in the path towards peace, freedom, and light.
I too am on this journey. Are you on it? What are you doing to make change in big and little ways? How do you cultivate inner peace? How do you share it with the world?
I was at a “Bootcamp” for work in June/July. The trains were late (typical Deutsche Bahn, oops, lol), so I walked into the start of an Influencer presentation.
My privacy is sacred to me. It is almost as sacred as my authenticity. Hearing how those Influencers authentically shared their often-goofy truth with the world inspired me. I took furious notes. I looked on with awe and respect. It ignited something inside of me.
Poetry in Eden is a part of my authentic ‘Infuencer’ expression, but now I will continue further. If you do not follow me on Instagram yet (@feliciaiyamu), expect more content. Expect more sharing of my life, my mindset, my truth. I am open to collaborations.
I often have an internal battle because time is precious. I’ve had a corporate job for 10 years. I have relationships to maintain to the highest quality. I have a book I want to get traditionally published. I have plans for the future which most likely includes a family.
These days, I make time for whatever fills me with joys. These days, I do not put endless pressure on myself. These days, I dance and appreciate being a woman and the cycles we go through.
I was at a DJ set last night when the DJ played the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech. My mouth hung open with my hand over my heart as I had flashbacks to the first time I heard this speech as a very young girl. It filled me with awe then, and it fills me with awe even today.
This week, I will share an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech below as the poetry piece. Read it. Remember it. Absorb it. Its eternal truth is mesmerizing. May peace be with you. May you walk in and towards the light.
“. . .Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” (link)