Writing – Breakaway Consciousness

Book Announcement: Amor Vincit Omnia – Love Conquers All by Zy Marquiez | #Poetry #Prose #Love #Positivity #Writing #WritingCommunity #LoveConquersAll #AmorVincitOmnia #Books #NoctisBlackburn

AVO#1-1

BreakawayIndividual.com
Noctis Blackburn | Zy Marquiez
August 16, 2019

This is my formal announcement for a book that I’ve been working on for nigh two months. Given Zy Marquiez is my other pen name besides Noctis Blackburn, I am choosing to make an announcement here because of how much it means to me and because of how genuinely excited to I am to share this book.

As the above picture shows, the books name is Amor Vincit Omnia – Love Conquers All, which is a poetry book that I’ve put a lot of work and thought into for myriad reasons.

Now, the first point of the book is why I chose a color that’s mostly blue, with highlights of purple and so on, rather than something red? That’s a fantastic question that those that have known about the cover and have given me feedback have asked. One of the reasons for this is because this book is about Love Conquering All through all circumstances, and not just matters between two lovers. More importantly, though Love is usually ascribed the color red for obvious reasons, Love truly knows no boundaries, no colors.

As such, I thought it fitting to go with a more bluish/purple color scheme, rather than a reddish/purple/pink. Concurrently with that, red as Love is emblematic of Valentine’s Day, couples, romance, and such. And while Love between lovers is a part of this book, it’s not the only part of the book. I thought if I wrote the book from only that direction, it would leave a lot to be desired since Love affects all of us, no matter who we are, no matter whether we are in relationships or not, and so on. That said, nigh all the poems take a two person structure since I find it easier to write from that aspect, and I find it more beautiful as well. In conjunction with that, this book features the most amount of notations following well more than half the poems go extend the notion in many directions since human emotion is embedded deep within everyone and just leaving some poems without adding notations from them felt also incomplete since a romantic couple that seeks to do the right thing (or one person even) can still serve as a metaphor for a much more extensive view on Love.

Because of this, I opted to keep this color scheme because I like it a lot and everyone did as well, though they certainly wondered why bluish-purple rather than red/purple/pink and so on. Now, another vanguard consideration in this color scheme which is just as important as anything else is because a follow up to this book is already in the works, and given that that book is about love in the traditional sense with couples, romance, and so on, it’s going to follow a traditional Valentine’s Day-type color scheme, though I still have no conceptualized the cover or anything.

Likewise, I didn’t want to publish two books on Love with very similar color schemes because although Love is traditionally seen in red, as mentioned before, Love truly knows no boundaries nor colors. I would also like to make this part of a Trilogy, given that the first two books are covering important topics, although I believe the first one’s a lot more ‘objective’, while the second one is more ‘subjective’, I would still like to make it three books, although honestly I’m uncertain if I will be able to figure that out any time soon, so no promise there.

The final key consideration I want to discuss is why I chose the cover for this book. If you look at it carefully, you can see that the background is a heart that’s creation an explosion of resonance out of Love, which is essentially the reverse of a blackhole. Whereas a blackhole absorbs everything in sight leaving nothing left essentially, unconditional love is unconditional because it never stops, which I thought an incisive antithesis to something like a black-hole, which could mirror things that stem out of fear, hatred, and so on, which are important topics in the book. I put a lot of thought into all aspects of this book, and am still continuing to make sure to add some tidbits, but on the whole, the book is nigh complete and it’s almost ready to go. That said, it’s going to be around 2-3 weeks before it’s available to the public since I want to make sure that the book’s hardcover versions come out okay given that Lulu has some serious glitches when you uploading files

With everything previously discussed in mind, I would like to leave all of you with one final thought.

No matter where you are, who you are, what you do, and what you are going through, don’t ever forget that Love creates resonance, incredible resonance, and ultimately helps create the world you and all of us live in. The world truly becomes what we collectively create it to be and the power to do that should never be underestimated because each of us has way more power to change things than we often realize.

I could go on and on, but that’s the gist of it. I appreciate all of you taking time out of your day and reading this far.

Hope you all have a fantastic evening, and a phenomenal weekend! Take care of yourselves and be safe. Talk to you soon.

#Quote Of The Day | #Writing | #Life

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin

#Quote Of The Day | #Writing | #Authenticity

“I think writing really helps you heal yourself. I think if you write long enough, you will be a healthy person. That is, if you write what you need to write, as opposed to what will make money, or what will make fame.”
– Alice Walker

Note: I think how cathartic writing is, is often taken for granted. It is something that should be explored at length.

#Quote Of The Day | #Writing | #Poetry | #Poems

“Start writing, no matter hat. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
– Louis L’Amour

Poker, Writing & Life: Chasing Waterfalls, Chasing Dreams | #Poker | #Dreams | #Writing | #Life

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
July 10, 2019

There are many moments in time in where you arrive at a fork in the road, and whether you realize it at the time or not, you have essentially two options: you can remain in the original direction you intended, in the original course of your bearing, or you head off elsewhere, plotting a new course in your ventures. Over ten years ago, I had circumstances that provided the canvas for very possibilities.

In the online poker space, which I played for a living for over ten years and is what was my main ‘career’ of choice until over a month ago, Poker Stars offered a player-program that was based out of the rakeback that the ‘house’ (Poker Stars) wins. [For clarification’s purposes, the way the casino guarantees itself profits from those playing poker, with every hand played that sees a flop, a certain percentage (that is capped at a certain amount) is kept by the house, and that’s how the casino makes money. In other words, it’s a small ‘tax’ (or fee) players pay to be part of the game.]

With that out of the way, Poker Star’s loyalty program was incredibly robust and easily the best in the game, which was one of the vanguard reasons they were the best online poker company by far. Though the name of the player program escapes me at the moment, the program essentially would guarantee players to earn a certain percentage of the money they themselves paid the house. It was Poker’s Stars version of a “tax return” if you want a lose analogy of it. Essentially, the more hands you played, the more money you ‘made’.

The strength of this program was that if you were able to log in an incredible amount of time and effort, you would be able to clear somewhere along the lines of $80-000 – $100,000+ year (with significant benefits as well), which was an opportunity of a lifetime, especially give that’s before your winnings. Yes, before winnings, you could still make that kind of money back then [1].

Anyone that played on Poker Stars had that option. All you had to do was make sure that you were playing in the right amount of games logging enough hands, which was admittedly obscene, but for the driven, very doable, and log an incredible amount of time playing the various form of poker games available. This is where the rubber meets the road.

I brought this idea up to my significant other at the time, and told her that it’s an incredible opportunity, and one that shouldn’t be overlooked given how such an opportunity (even playing only a handful of years) could really set someone (or a couple) financially up for the rest of their life.

Anyways, after endless debates and considerations, I relented to the fact that it was best not to do that, given that we agreed (although in my case, it was tentatively, and I will get to that in a moment) that it was more important at the time for the relationship. In hindsight, even though I think it might be seen, or even objectively be selfish, I believe that what would have been best for the relationship would have been to sacrifice a bit of personal time, in order to set the future up nicely. The future is what it’s all about, right? At least, that’s what I thought about then and still ponder at length now. And though I do realize you ‘only’ live in the moment, to pretend tomorrow will never come is like pretending you need not eat food now because you know you can’t be hungry later because all you have is now.

Even so, at the time, the choice we made seemed tenable, though it still irks me that I didn’t do that, especially since I was working at home, which was the main strength of playing online poker, because any one in that instance could always take breaks by themselves, or with acquaintances, friends, family, significant others, lovers, etc. How many other jobs in the world allow that amount of latitude and freedom?

But that wasn’t the case. Had it been a traditional job, where you spend time away from home, I wouldn’t have regretted the idea at all. But the choices were made and now we are here.

I bring this about because during those times, poker was job, but more importantly my passion, so to not be able to chase it to the fullest extent of the opportunity always left me feeling like I left a piece of myself in the past that I will never be able to get back.

Fast forward to the present, now we get to writing.

Currently, I’ve already made a choice that, regardless of where my path as an individual heads towards in life, I will continue writing since it is my main passion. But where as in Poker I wasn’t able to test the limits of my passions, in writing I will not do that, I couldn’t live myself if I followed that course. I could not sacrifice a passion, a dream of that magnitude again, without looking back at the end of my life without feeling like I didn’t live life to the fullest, even if we’re only talking about it through the lens of writing.

Now, what makes this matter even more interesting from a variety of angles is that, wherein Poker I had to do it for an income (whether I liked it or not), with writing I don’t have to do that.

I can write when I want, how I want, where I want, for whatever purpose I want, to accomplish whatever goal I wish to accomplish and all around the parameters that I set upon myself. This freedom (and passion) is definitely something that I don’t take for granted given that it’s allowed me not only to be able to live life in a more meaningful and much wider range than in the past, but in a way that is even more fulfilling than I ever thought possible.

Concurrent with that, the bonus is that because I’m not doing it as a career, I don’t have to worry about any of my writing ‘paying the bills’ through that passion, which allows me the freedom of expression and choice that I would otherwise had if I had come through writing from a more traditional vantage point.

These considerations are born about because I find it highly intriguing how often I converse with people on myriad subjects where they are passionate about hobbies (or possible dreams) and so on, though usually not in a I-want-to-make-a-living-out-of-this sort of way, but in a passionate way nonetheless, and I see people, give up on something they are passionate about because they just don’t see it as ‘possible’. I can definitely empathize with such instances given how I myself followed this course a few times, though not necessarily for these very reasons.

Be that as it may, this is the type of mindset that holds individuals back, and I think most individuals are familiar with some part of this spectrum, and it’s something that serve no purpose but to anchor an individual upon the sea of regret for the rest of their lives.

Thankfully, life has kicked my rear end enough, and I have made enough mistakes to realize what it is I truly want to follow through with, and at least it didn’t take as long as I thought it would for me to realize this.

Yes, no passion that you wish to take to the fullest extent, or at least, to a far-reaching range is easy to follow through with, nay. But if you truly want something you are passionate about, sometimes you just need to jump into the deep end of life and begin swimming.

Either way, I know that 50 years from now, irrespective of where writing takes me, I won’t have the regret of not having followed through with my passion for writing, as I know I will have when I look back having played online Poker. And for that perspective, I am definitely thankful.

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Notes:

[1] In full disclosure, I believe that the amount of money that could be made had a wider range than the one mentioned, but either way, it was enough to make a comfortable living by average middle-class income standards.

[2] I apologize for the lack of content on the blog; I’ve been busy on a few different things I will discuss in the next few weeks, and also dealing with some health issues at the moment. Nothing serious, but I just don’t want it to get as such, so I just need to take care of myself. That said, I still plan on uploading content of a wide scope here, I just wanted to do a small update on why there hasn’t been much the last few weeks.

[3] This piece was written with the thoughts that even if it doesn’t seem feasible at all, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to truly consider how complex or truly complicated chasing a dream or a passion is. If thought about open-mindedly on paper, sometimes certain things aren’t as complicated, or as simple, as they may be at first blush, but consideration of them at least allows for the true scope of the issue to be grasped, rather than think that you can’t do it because x, y or z reasons.

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If you find value in this information, please share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an an author, business owner, CEO, avid book reviewer, inquirer, open-minded skeptic, and writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

Poker, Writing, And Life – Seeing & Accepting Things As They Are | #Mindfulness | #Life | #Writing | #Poker

“Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.”

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. ”
― Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

BreakwayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
June 19, ,2019

Poker and life share many commonalities, as previously discussed.

That said, in this particular piece, we will also couple writing to it since this also shares many commonalities with the aforementioned, and in the original conceptualization of this write-up, writing and self expression were the main focus. Given the poker theme that gets addressed in this blog at times, I chose to merge all of these to expand upon the ideas a bit. Essentially, we are going to explore some of the commonalities that self-expression has with poker, writing, and how that delves into viewing things at face value and accepting things in deeper ways from a subjective level.

One vanguard commonality that poker shares with life (and writing) is the expression of an individual in the way they play their game. Just like an individual in poker expresses themselves with what they wear, how they speak, how they act, and how they ultimately play, in writing, as in life, it is no different.

In writing, however, the individual uses a different array of tools for self expression. Writers can employ themes, diction, metaphors, arguments, insights, and much more. Tempo, imagery and reliability are also things that can create a huge feeling of kinship between the writer and the reader. All of this allows for thoughts and emotions to be conveyed in countless forms, and for self expression to take place.

In my personal case, I find that when I subject myself to certain emotions conveyed through writing, or even news, and videos, my emotions can get quite affected. Not always, but enough that I have been cognizant of this for a very long time.

Now, allow me a quick aside that merges into what will follow thereafter.

Throughout the full latitude of my life, I have had certain issues with reading thoughts that people share which are negative (or could be seen as such) in nature. These types of feelings and thoughts people share that have a certain ‘negative’ vibe to it are merely individuals expressing themselves. And I say negative loosely, because perhaps a person is simply expressing themselves, and they are misunderstood. Some people might only want to express thoughts on a darker subject, not with the intent of creating a negative vibe to it, but perhaps in a cathartic way. And just because a reader (such as myself in this instance) takes it negatively, doesn’t mean the aim of the piece was to create negativity in its intentional nascent conception.

Though this above example talks about reading from my subjective point of view that stems from my willing exposure to those who express themselves in writing, the same can be said for poker and life in my personal case.

Instances where a player berates another at the tables, or a person mistreats another with disrespect and so on, have always bothered me at a deeper level. And I’m not saying we shouldn’t be affected, only that allowing your emotions to run you over if such is the case with me, isn’t exactly healthy. One can be bothered significantly by an issue without letting that issue overrun them.

Now, if you think about it, an individual’s ‘self expression, whether it stems through the medium of writing, in poker, or in life, that expression is simply one side of the polarity of positivity and negativity, albeit, through the gateway of emotions and the mind.

That a negative circumstance or thought (or my misperception of it) bothers me so much says a lot about me on many levels. Though, what I think it says more than anything is that, even if I have always found such things stressful since my youth, that doesn’t mean I need to let it affect me, if that makes sense. In other words, while every single person has the freedom to express themselves as they so desire, I also have the freedom to accept that in its totality, and NOT let it affect me, and even learn from it if possible, as I am attempting to do now.

I say this because I’m trying significantly to take a slightly more Zen-like mindful approach to reading certain things in particular, which I usually avoid in general due to it causing stress.

Then a thought struck me: just like I can lockdown my emotions in a game of poker and keep them in check, as well as the stress involved in it, why couldn’t I do that in reading or seeing something that bothers me? This doesn’t mean I excuse poor treatment of another human being in any way shape or form, if such has taken place. I am merely stating that I should not allow my emotions to override my logic center, which is something that can easily take place and it’s a social engineering weapon employed often by the mainstream media.

Why do you think the mainstream media nigh always appeals to emotions and nigh never to logic, or even better, a holistic approach? Ponder that one.

Individuals that are highly emotional are much easier to manipulate than those that have a sound and holistic mindset. But just like too much emotion can affect a person, too much logic can as well, which is why a delicate balance has to be struck.

Seeking a delicate balance and a more mindful Zen-like state of being coupled with acceptance of what I s taking place is the approach I have been slowly taking the last few days, and I am appreciating it because one thing I learned a long time ago is that, anything that bothers you says something about you. Anything that bothers you a lot, says even more about you. While obviously, this can be positive or negative, the point is that our emotional response to a situation has endless ways in the way it can play out, and being able to come to terms with it is incredible for seeing the world as it IS, rather than how you think (or wish) it could be.

The world, just like individuals, simply are. And just how I am okay accepting myself for me, as everyone should accept themselves as well, I should be cognizant of others and their thoughts, feelings, and so on.

That need not mean that I need to agree with them, not at all, or give a pass to something that’s downright wrong that goes against what I feel is right. It’s just that seeing things for what they are is one of those obvious, and yet, not so obvious subtleties life offers. It’s not unlike the sky, it’s there, but most people don’t pay attention to it. Not seeing the subtleties in life, is not unlike having a kaleidoscope at hand, and not seeing the countless intricacies that it offers due to its unique perspective. That’s missing out on a LOT of things one could see, and even learn from if exposed to such.

Is the glass half full or half empty? To me, that doesn’t matter.

What matters is what is inside, and what you can learn from it.

In this case, my cup has been half full with fear of myriad things, which has historically affected how I see and accept the world for it is, which is why my stress increases proportional to my inability to accept things, and which has undoubtedly has affected my health throughout my life.

But at least I am coming to terms with it. Hopefully, that’s a big first step in the right direction.

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Author’s Note:

[1] I know I meandered a bit hither and thither, but, there was just a lot I wished to address, and I just took a more instinctual way of constructing my thoughts, rather than a logically structured way in which I aim to follow at times, so if this seems like a lot of spaghetti got launched at the wall in order to seek what sticks, it’s EXACTLY THAT!

[2] I have posted an iteration of this elsewhere in the form of a letter, or perhaps, journal entry might be more precise. I have opted to share it here, though in a significantly more fleshed out way because I think the topic deserves some serious consideration.

This started simply as me putting my thoughts to paper based on many things I had been thinking about of late, with what is shared being that which I thought most noteworthy.

I find it highly fascinating how many points of views different circumstances can offer. Not learning from them when you can if you simply make an a proactive effort is leaving life lessons by the wayside. At least, for me that’s how I feel.

And what’s life about, if not about growth, to a certain extent?

Hope you all have a great evening.

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If you find value in this information, please share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com
___________________________________________________________
About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

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Emotional Bank Accounts: Emotional Self Expression | #Writing | #Honesty | #Life | #Obstacles | #Emotions | #Poetry | #Poems

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
June 17, 2019

It’s been a while since I have written anything under the ‘Emotional Bank Account’ moniker, but today something rather significant took place.

Without going into details, I read the equivalent of someone’s thoughts in a way that really hit home. Although what was written was incredibly significant, what I want to focus on here is the actual act behind it, which is just as so.

When an individual puts their heart into writing a piece, as a reader, you can really feel it; this act resonates to a great degree. It doesn’t matter what it is, passion and emotion are incredibly easy to gravitate too, no matter what form of media, not unlike a moth gravitating to a flame.

As an individual, self expression in general is incredibly crucial for countless reasons, not the least of which is intellectual and emotional freedom. But on a deeper level, self expression of someone’s deepest and most closely guarded emotions can be quite cathartic, as I discussed with the person that penned this piece. There’s more than that though.

When an individual writes something, or expresses their emotions to be precise, no matter the medium used, especially where they in fact are putting themselves in an incredibly vulnerable position, it creates a deeper resonance still since such actions hit closets to home.

Haven’t you ever seen a piece of art, and been so incredibly overwhelmed with it, that it makes you ponder life at levels you hitherto considered? Haven’t you ever seen a romantic movie, and viewed a particular scene, such as the ending of the Notebook for instance, and just had your heart just absolutely let loose in a tornado of emotions that you couldn’t control given the power and gravity of the scene? Haven’t you ever read a love letter, whether it was addressed to you or not, and whether fictional or not, and still identified with it so much that you were overwhelmed with emotion in ways you never thought possible? Such is the power of an individual expression, and it’s one of the clearest windows someone’s soul.

The kinship that the act of self expression can foster in another person is one of the greatest instances individuals can experience, and such is the power than one individual can have with another, or with the entire world.

Don’t ever be afraid to express yourself with the world, whether emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, creatively, or any other way you see as important.

When it comes to really matters in life, there’s nothing more important than that which comes from the deepest parts of your heart and soul.

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Author’s Note:

My apologies for not posting regularly, I have just had a lot going on in many fronts. I have been writing non-stop, I just haven’t been feeling like posting things just yet, although I had started working on a lot of things and have a few ideas that are in in their final-draft versions; I just simply haven’t had the emotional drive to push through in all honesty at the current moment. Hope you guys are all doing great.