About 30% of people diagnosed with breast cancer at any stage will develop distal metastasis. I am one.
I’ve had a rough couple of weeks physically, and it’s been interesting to observe how closely my physical, emotional, mental (cognitive), and spiritual selves are intertwined. Waddaya know – I really am one multifaceted being. This will come as news to no one but myself, but I’m a slow learner, and...
… Abyss by Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) Translation by Jerzy Peterkiewicz Abyssus abyssum invocat (*) You always see it as space filled with cascades of air where glass splinters reflect and glitter like seeds planted in distant stones. Now observe the abyss that glitters in the eye’s...
A smarty and funny Twitter friend and blogger recently reminded me of William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus. Think of it as a Victorian teenage boy’s version of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. At the dawn of his adolescence, Henley was stricken by osseous tuberculosis, eventually having to endure a below-the-knee...
Here it comes… are you ready? I am about to share with you a Major Revelation that was the result of my self-centered navel gazing and pity pot sitting of the last several weeks. Ready? Here it is: Feelings are not the boss of me. […] My fundamental happiness takes...
Today I found myself writing, “I am at the -ish phase of my life. Retired-ish. Working-ish.” I could add old-ish, sick-ish, energetic-ish, productive-ish. That’s kind of yuck-ish. All my life, my choices and behavior have been decisive and even radical. I have made stellar mistakes and accepted the consequences. I...
It was a dark and stormy night last night. It is a dark and stormy morning this morning, and it’s Friday the 13th to boot. Seems like a good day to get back to writing. I’ve neglected the blog lately because I’ve been sort of a wreck. Far too much...
(Poem 917 – published 1896) Love – is anterior to Life – Posterior – to Death – Initial of Creation, and The Exponent of Earth – —– (Poem 974 – published 1925 but written the same year as 917, 1894) The Soul’s distinct connection With immortality Is best disclosed by...
The policeman knocked at the gate. “Ms. Knot Telling?” “Yes, who is it?” “Police. Can I come in and talk to you?” “Sure. Just show me your identification first.” “We need you to come to the station to give evidence.” “What about?” “I don’t know. We’ll have a car come...
Writing the posts about being on a bus when it was bombed (Part I – Part II – Part III) has been an interesting experience. Even today, over twenty years afterwards, memories came rushing back as I re-read what I wrote. I close my eyes and see what I saw when...
(Part I is here and Part II is here.) My patient loaded into the ambulance, I could take a deep breath. From the moment I started moving to the front of the bus until now I had been functioning on autopilot. I probably looked calm, in charge, competent, and I really was...
