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What has changed?

8/13/2016

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by Gwendolyn M Plano
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Fifty years ago, I was a dreamy-eyed teenager listening to Buffalo Springfield. Their hit, “For What It’s Worth,” by Stephen Stills spoke to my generation’s discontent and fear. The horrifying murders of President John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. left us with a sense of impending doom. And complicating it further, the lingering war in Vietnam battered our dreams, as friends and brothers died on that embattled soil.
 
In November of 1969 there was a peace march, and many of us decided to participate. We naively thought that we could make a difference. With our babies in tow and with friends beside us, we accompanied the great unknown masses of doctors and lawyers and teachers, people of all ages and ethnicities. We walked and sang and prayed for peace, and we imagined someone would hear us.
 
But, when we watched the evening news, we discovered that not one national network mentioned the more than 250,000 people peacefully standing before our Capitol in Washington D.C., asking that we bring our troops home. The only coverage for that day was of an alley skirmish that had nothing to do with those of us who walked with hearts burdened by hope.    
 
Truthfully, we were not seen then, except in the extremes. The iconic photos of Woodstock defined us, just as the streets of Haight Ashbury became our collective home. My generation was the unshaven, the longhaired, the druggies, the seekers – and as such, we were irrelevant.
 
But, as much as we were not seen then, we are not seen now - with our grey hair and slower pace. Idealism once challenged, though, becomes a mighty force – especially with age. Experience has taught us to doubt and to question. We do not believe the words of those who brandish promises as easily as they point a finger, and we know that media creates its own truth.
 
Stephen Stills’ words are eerily as true today as they were five decades ago. I invite you to listen to the song, which begins: “There's something happening here; What it is ain't exactly clear; There's a man with a gun over there, Telling me I got to beware; There's battle lines being drawn, Nobody's right if everybody's wrong…”  

Fifty years…and I wonder, has anything changed?

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RRBC 2016 Book & Blog Party!

8/1/2016

112 Comments

 
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PictureClick on Mickey for some happy, dancing music!
WELCOME
to the Branson, MO


BOOK and BLOG PARTY! ​


Each day during the month of August,
you can visit one of 
70+ Rave Reviews Book Club blogs to be eligible for prizes.

​All you need to do is
leave a comment,
even one word will do!

If you comment on my site, you'll be eligible for
​
one of SIX prizes:

2 - $10.00 Amazon Gift Cards,
2 - Autographed paperback copies of
Letting Go into Perfect Love
2 - SURPRISE gifts

​
AND

Anyone who leaves a comment is also eligible for  GRAND PRIZES,
to be given away at the end of the Tour!

Grand Prizes include:

$100 Amazon Gift Card, 4 free Commercial ads on Rave Waves BlogTalkRadio shows, a 10-book bundle, a 7-day blog tour, and a live interview!
(Click here to check out all the details.)

​♥

​
Now...a bit about my book:

LETTING GO into PERFECT LOVE


My book is a Memoir, and as such, it chronicles a journey. It’s about me, but truthfully, it is also about you.
​  
There are ups and downs; there are tears and laughter; there is tragedy, but there is also bliss. Familiar, right?  


Letting Go into Perfect Love begins when I’m a youngster, growing up on a desert farm in southern California. I was the eldest of nine.​
The book walks the reader through the arrival of each of my four children - a span of 15 years. It crisscrosses the United States and parts of Canada, and takes the reader to various cities in Japan.

Sorrows deep and joys amazing emerge. Though some of these experiences may not be yours, pain and happiness are timeless and universal.

​
If you have ever struggled with the question WHY?, my book will be of interest. If you’ve discovered that life exists beyond that which we normally see, your experience will be affirmed.
​
 
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​​In the final chapter, I write: "As I unravel the details of my life and look honestly at the consequences, I am left with only one conclusion: all of life has meaning, and through our tragedies and joys, we are lovingly guided to more profound realizations of that meaning."

Letting Go into Perfect Love was selected as Finalist for the Indie Book Awards in Religious Non Fiction, and it was the First Prize Winner for Memoir/Non-Fiction by the Red City Review Book Awards. If you'd like to know more, please go to "My Book" on this site or take a peek at the book trailer below.





Singer Karen Drucker accompanies this Trailer with her beautiful song:
"Sing My Songs For You."

If you have a moment, I invite you to listen. I suspect your heart will be singing too.

♥
Thank you for visiting my site! Please leave a comment to be eligible for today's prizes and the Grand Prizes at the end of the month.

CONGRATULATIONS to authors: Maretha Botha (Amazon Gift Card), Lizzie Chantree (Amazon Gift Card), Carmen Stefanescu (signed copy of my book), Patricia Green (signed copy of my book), Lori Soard (surprise gift) and Stephanie Collins (surprise gift). Thank you for visiting my Blog Party. Gifts are on their way!

112 Comments
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Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. ―Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning


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