Follow your heart

Marina Eugenie di Cervini (2024)

Marina E. di Cervini is a distinguished writer, documentary producer, speaker, lawyer, and coach, with a career spanning over three decades. Her work explores themes of love, identity, resilience, and humanity’s intricate connection to the world, blending timeless storytelling with universal truths. Her debut in the trilogy, FOLLOW YOUR HEART, introduces Françoise de Chambord, a heroine of remarkable depth and courage. Set against a rich tapestry of cultural and emotional landscapes, this luminous tale examines the delicate balance between personal desires and destiny, inviting readers into a journey of profound self-discovery. The journey continues in Marina’s second book, "MY WAY", and concludes with the powerful "THE PRESIDENT’S ADVISER", both of which deepen her exploration of resilience, leadership, and the enduring pursuit of purpose. Marina E. di Cervini’s storytelling is a celebration of the human spirit, offering readers a profound connection to life’s most essential truths.

WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT HONOUR OR FAILINGS?

“I have lost people I loved with all my heart—my mother, my father, my fiancé, and a few close friends. A time of mist and shadows, where loss, love, and the quiet force of endurance shaped me. Strength grows, not in ease, but in the crucible of pain, when the mind and heart ache beyond words. «Так закалялась сталь»—this is what they say about me. For to live without trial is to drift through an endless void; a hollow existence untouched by fire.”

What is life without honour or failings?

A hollow march through fleeting unveilings.

What is honour bereft of strife?

A fragile veil, untouched by life.

No steel is forged in gentle streams,

No soul awakens from shallow dreams.

It takes the storm, the blinding rain,

To carve the heart from grief and pain.

Each loss a weight, a silent stone,

Each love a light, though dimly shown.

Yet through the darkness, strength is born,

A soul remade, though bruised and torn.

What is the path without its thorns?

A barren field where nothing mourns.

What is the heart that knows no ache?

A fragile shell that dares not break.

The cliffs may call, the seas may rise,

The stars may dim in shadowed skies.

Yet still we stand, though bent and scarred,

For life’s true gift is won through hard.

I lost my loves, I lost my ground,

Yet found myself where loss abounds.

For honour blooms from what we bear,

And failing teaches how to care.

To fall is human, yet to rise—

That is where all true glory lies.

For what is life without the fight,

Without the darkness to birth the light?

The journey bends, the edges fray,

But courage leads the heart away—

Away from void, from hollow strife,

To face the fire, and call it life.