Plasma saves lives. If you’re able, donate. Your hour could mean someone else gets another year, another chance, another story. #cvid

“Paths are made by walking.” — Franz Kafka Keep going, even with a heavy heart or dark thoughts. Ask for help, but keep creating and keep walking that path.

Individuals stand as myths Much like the aspen trees We all share the same roots #myth #vss365

Talks in a park will always be more honest and real than the ones in the bar.

More parks. More libraries.

On my gravestone: “Give me things that don't get lost.”

There is beauty in persistence.

Life is a layer of a million nuances

“Tell me how the pain's supposed to go. Tell me how it is that you can sleep in the night, without thinking you lost everything that was good in your life to the toss of the dice?” Not a song about chronic illness, but isn’t illness a form of going through a breakup?

Anything that reminds you hope exists is worth its weight in gold.

There are opportunities in the reality of today

Chronic illness is like being handed a pair of binoculars to see a future frailty we will all encounter at some point.

The glass breaking is a part of its nature

‪“You heal by remembering the adult who can imagine again.”‬

Measured my rainfall Capturing tears To share a storm With everyone else in the sun I drank it all to replay the song #measure #vss365

Intentions for a poem Regrets of five decades Then I recalled I don’t do epic poems

genius hides behind the wound

My words are pigeons Carried far and wide But only beautiful With the right light

You don’t have to be cured to be whole.

In this episode of To The Bone, I explore Toni Bernhard’s How to Be Sick, a Buddhist guide to meeting pain with compassion, presence, and depth. (Spotify/Apple) open.spotify.com/show/2bf2CTH...

I’ve lived in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and California. No favorites, each has their own unique gifts. Embrace the day for what it offers, not for what does not exist.

This isn’t literature A colonic for my soul Artistic merit is for the birds I’m just trying to breathe #literature #vss365

Life is only now Like this song, life goes on —Sampra The Great

A broken heart is expensive

If you are being told to hate someone, please think as hard as you can why that is somehow relevant to your own life. We shouldn’t be Wi-Fi signal repeaters for manipulative messaging shaping cultural narratives benefiting the few.

She can’t remember me or herself, so I’ll remember it for the both of us.

Stories are more than words and words are only one path to tell it.

Epiphanies are not durable unless you strike the hammer every single day.

I don’t know the way, but I’ll walk with you since I was already going in that direction.

“You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world — that is something you are free to do. But perhaps precisely this holding back is the only suffering you could avoid.” — Franz Kafka Engage it when it hurts. Avoidance doesn’t work.

Not all graffiti exists on walls

I grew up spending a lot time in the ocean. You learn the waves are always coming, but expect nothing and appreciate all of the shapes and sizes they may take.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus Don’t give despair the last word.

Not breaking laws Doesn’t shield you for guilt Morality holds true Even after courts adjourn #law #vss365

Leaves whispering truths I’m not ready to hear Locked inside Deluded with streams But only the ones I control

Even if the tire blows Stuck on the road The train rolls on It always rolls on

Art is the bridge to the next. That’s why we have to write, sing, or paint. There is no new reality without a dream.

Living inside a mystery can be hard to explain. That’s why we need artists.

I miss studying at the library.

You should start. Not all portraits get completed.

Is it your story or is it the cultural narrative? Sometimes hard to see the water you’re swimming in.

If you look down the ladder of life And your response is fear Someone higher on the ladder Wrote that story for you

The unspoken thoughts Stillness between us Darting eyes A language my body knows Before we even had the words #language #vss365

No child chose their family Country or circumstances No child has voted Or has an option to put 40 hours in Allowing for lack for a child No cultural seppuku Just an intentional failure Hiding bodies with more

There is always another story in you.

Maybe the crows are here to help us.

Going to graduate school and practicing psychology for two decades has taught me there is no way I’m ever going to know everything. People like their familiar ruts of epistomology, but I struggle to know a single shelf in the library, yet alone the library itself.

Rebuilding possibilities is hard work.

History haunts Personally and beyond If examination doesn’t hurt You’re doing it wrong #history #vss365

Caring about others is a good thing.