Frida Kahlo Gives Loss the Boot!

Toward the end of a lifetime of rising above the brutalities of her lifelong physical battles, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo had to have a leg amputated. Always one to stare her demons straight in the eye, she didn't shrink back. Instead, she designed her own prosthesis with a style that was truly her own. Only Frida would think of decorating it and adding bells to it to make it sing with each step. 

She was both defiant and boldly accepting to the end! 

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?" 
                                                    Frida Kahlo

Philippe Petit - Patron Saint of 'Tenacious Little Rats'

From the "poet who writes in the sky," wire-walker, Philippe Petit, a personal inspiration through my last 10 yrs of my own 'Balancing Act': 

“I know in my heart and body that I will successfully do the last step and, therefore, there are no question marks. Maybe there is a forest of exclamation points but I don’t ask myself: 'Oh my God, I hope the cable will support me.' I go there because I am solid. It is this solidity of the most fragile action a human being can do on a little wire that inspires people.

“So it’s really life-affirming. I don’t risk my life. I do something maybe mysterious, but very noble, and carry my life across.”

The word “impossible” doesn’t faze him, either. “I am a fighter,” he stressed. “I am a tenacious little rat who doesn’t take impossible for granted.”

Breathing Lessons

....been trying to change my funky nervous system wiring [result of chemotherapy, cancer, and meds that are a double-edged sword] through regular meditation practice. Book recommendation: 'You Are Not Your Pain'. This poem, a reminder:



Breathing Lesson

Breathing in I see the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I hear the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I smell the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I taste the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I touch the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I know the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I feel the pleasure of the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I am content with the world;
breathing out I know I’m alive.

Breathing in I release the world;
breathing out I know I'm alive....

Lymphomopoly Haiku

...roll the dice, pass go ~
collect two hundred dollars;
chance card says s'all good.

Dhamma Haiku

I am not my thoughts. 

Just pretty little trinkets - 

Look! A shiny one! 

The Dance Between Pain and Suffering ~ the Breath

"As long as you are breathing there is more that is right with you than wrong with you, no matter what is wrong." 
                                                             - from Jon Kabat-Zinn 
                                                                         "Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief"

Spring Shower Haiku

petrichor rising ~
is there anything better?
rain, earth, breath, entwined

Helen Keller - On Looking Too Long

"When one door of happiness closes, an-
other opens; but often we look so long at
the closed door that we do not see the one
which has been opened for us. "

- Helen Keller

Haiku Under the Radar

Another three months.
Move along, nothing to see.
Pass 'Go' and collect.

Thrity Below Zero Haiku

Hunkering down here - 

Just fourteen degrees colder

Up at the North Pole

Burn, Baby, Burn!

"When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself." 

                 ~ Shunryu Suzuki