Invictus - An Emotional Journey of Unconquerable Souls | LET'S MAKE A COLLAGE: ROUND #116

Hello everyone and welcome back to Let's Make a Collage ("LMAC"). This week I wanted to break from fantasy collage creations I usually design and address what I've been feeling these past two week. When I think about the pain and suffering the Ukrainian people are going through as of today, I think of many men, women and children who are civilians. What crimes did they commit? What misdeeds against their country did they commit?

The decision of one misguided person, living in the past and unwilling to accept the future, can needlessly affect the lives of many. Innocent victims were going about their daily lives, when forces beyond their control, reared their ugly heads and hurled mayhem, disruption, and tragedy in their paths. The result, I'm sure is a range of emotions that resulted in feelings of mistrust and anger at having been displaced.

TO the hundreds of thousands of citizens who desired freedom above all else and didn't want to accept anything lesser, you have been forced to seek protection and safety in the arms of friendly face. I wish you Godspeed. Staying strong through adversity is sometimes truly hard.

To that end, I want to share with you of the words of my favorite poem ever since my middle school teacher required us to memorize and rehearse it in front of class. I almost had a heart attack when my turn came. However, I survived; but knew from that moment that I would never venture into a public speaking career.

However, the poem affected me in a way I didn't understand then. But, I never forgot it. I've recited it to myself often through the years. The famous poet who wrote the poem is William Ernest Henley, and his poem is INVICTUS.

At 16 years old, Henley dealt with tuberculosis. Complications from this illness resulted in his left leg requiring amputation. In the early 1870s, his other leg began to bother him, so he sought treatment at Margate. He didn't want to accept the diagnosis that this other leg would need amputation as well. Refusing this diagnosis, he sought a second opinion. It's a good thing he did, because this new doctor in Edinburgh, surgeon Joseph Lister, was able to save Henley's other leg after numerous treatments and surgeries. ¹

It reminds me to never accept that which is laid upon you. Seek out other options until you're satisfied you've done all you can for your health and safety. During Henley's recovery, it's said that Henley was stirred to write the verses that became the poem "Invictus". ¹

As you leave your life behind to seek shelter for yourself and your families in bunkers or flee to friendly territory, I just want to remind you of this all-encompassing poem in the hopes it will help keep you strong, gird you up, and surround you with guardian angels:

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Take it with you. Hold it close to your bosom. No matter what happens at the end of this insanity, remind yourself each day that you are the master of your fate and the captain of your soul until help can arrive. The international community stands with you.

TO the numerous other citizens who didn't make it to safety and paid the price of desiring freedom, I dedicate this collage to you, the Casualties of War of Ukraine. Seeing on our local news Ukrainian citizens being placed in body bags and dumped into mass graves was a horrific site.

I know that nothing can return your loved ones. No well intentioned words or actions, but please accept this:

For my collage, I started with the photograph provided by Hive account@shaka in his contest post:
Let's Make a Collage - A Contest for All Creatives on Hive - Round 116 - ✨208 HIVE in the Prize Pool!✨

^{Image used with permission of contest owner for contest}

I uploaded the contest photo and all images into Canva to utilize my Annual Pro Subscription Membership. It allows me numerous tools to assist in creating my collage themes, such as resizing and background removal. Thanks to Hive account@onyechi for his black birds that lent a sobering emphasis to my theme. I also changed the contest photo from a nature scene to a place that depicts interments took place. However, the actions taken weren't normal procedure for the deceased.

Angel statute kneeling PxFuel	Woman rainbow colors PxFuel	White Dove flying by UpMeHolidays at PurePNG	Two Black birds flying Contributed to the #LIL by @onyechi	Flower-Green-Explosion created by me in Apophysis