Land of the Free

I so love my great
Nation, a land of
Dreams, hopes, and
Everlasting liberty.
Patriotism abounds in
Every citizen’s heart as
New opportunities
Drive the spirit of
Embracing a better life.
Now we gather together to
Celebrate the day we
Earned our freedom!

Dearest country of mine,
America the Beautiful,
You are my true home!


Happy Independence Day to all my fellow American friends and family! May you all have a blessed Fourth of July weekend!

#WQWWC Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge – Freedom

Welcome to June! Why don’t we start off with another post for Silver Threading and Ronovan Writes‘s Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge? I’ve been having a lot of fun with these lately, especially since they help keep me creatively inspired through a particularly stressful time. Thanks, Silver and Ronovan!

Writers-Quote-Wednesday-Writing-Challenge

Appropriately for Memorial Day, the theme for this week was freedom! The quote I chose comes from the collection of Benjamin Franklin’s works:

Franklin_Liberty_Nor_Safety

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. – Benjamin Franklin

There’s an interesting history behind this quote: originally taken from a letter Franklin wrote regarding a tax dispute and the necessity of military defense, it has since become a popular saying in arguments about the risks of modern technology and surveillance, and has even been paraphrased to defend the fundamental right to privacy. Evidently there are quite a few ways to interpret this quote, which makes it great inspiration for a creative writing exercise!

So in the spirit of Memorial Day, here’s a poem I wrote inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s words on liberty and safety. Enjoy!

Liberty or Safety
If you had to choose,
Would you rather
Have Liberty
Or Safety?

Would you rather
Be free to make choices
Or be safe from their risks?

Would you rather
Be free to make mistakes
Or be safe from their consequences?

Would you rather
Be free to speak your thoughts
Or be safe from their dangers?

Would you rather
Be free to live your life
Or be safe from the fear of death?

Safety always seems appealing
To those who lack courage,
But in the end it comes
At the cost of true Liberty.

For Safety oftentimes
Is merely temporary,
But Liberty is forever
An essential right.

Those who would give up
Essential Liberty
To purchase a little
Temporary Safety
Deserve neither
Liberty nor Safety.

I hope you enjoyed my poem! Be sure to join the Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge and share your quote-inspired works! Thanks for reading!

Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge is a weekly blogging event by Colleen Chesebro of Silver Threading in collaboration with Ronovan Hester of Ronovan Writes. Be sure to check out both these authors’ blogs for your weekly dose of inspiration! Happy writing!

The Leap

(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)

He had been dreaming of this day his entire life.

The day when he could finally see the world.

The time had come to leave the nest.

He stood tall and spread his wings.

Then he leapt from the branch.

The long fall was daunting.

But his spirit prevailed.

The sky called.

He flew.

Free.


This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!

Back to the story

Give Me Freedom

Give me light,
And I will have sight.
I will see the world
And try to learn its ways.

Give me passion,
And I will have spirit.
I will grow and change
As I find my own path.

Give me wisdom,
And I will have mind.
I will form my own ideas
And create my own life.

Give me courage,
And I will have heart.
I will stand for my beliefs
And fight for my true rights.

But above all,
Give me freedom
To see,
To feel,
To think,
To speak,
And I will have a voice.
And I will at last exist.


Freedom is a basic human right, not a privilege. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people affected by the senseless tragedies in France. May our free voices never be silenced. #JeSuisCharlie

The Day I Stopped Caring

The day I stopped caring was the greatest day of my life.

That was the day I heard the voice inside. The voice that set me free.

I used to be terrified of what everyone thought. My life was nothing but overwhelming fear of judgment and humiliation. After every move I made, I would worry about how someone might react. Anyone could be a critic. Everyone’s opinion mattered.

Most nights, I’d cry myself to sleep. All I wanted was to please people, to be accepted. I wanted my actions to mean as much as everyone else’s did.

And then one day, I woke up to the sound of that voice. Not the pretend voice I used to kid myself or make myself feel better. The real voice deep inside that had finally endured enough phoniness and decided to speak up.

It only asked me the one question. But that was exactly what I needed to hear.

Why do you care?

Why did I care? Why did I care what people said? Why did I care what people did? Why did I care what people thought? I didn’t know. And when I realized I didn’t have an answer, something incredible happened.

The fear just… disappeared.

Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I no longer felt embarrassed about bad memories that everyone else had long forgotten. I stopped trying to hide the things I liked that nobody else understood. I quit doubting myself and began trusting in my own abilities. And never again did I let anyone laugh at me, because now they were laughing with me.

I had stopped being afraid, and started living life. All because that voice inside had made me realize whose opinion really matters most.

What a liberating day that was.

The day I stopped caring what anyone thinks… but me.

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