You have a choice: wisdom or woe. I don’t care about your childhood. Don’t use your horrible childhood to excuse your behavior. Let it go. Ultimately, you have a choice between living a life of wisdom or woe.
Caroline Myss
childhood
Catharsis
Daily art prompts. Today’s: “Dream a Little Dream.” I just drew and wrote what came to mind. It became instantly cathartic. Since March, I have lost a friend to a heart attack, my father to lung cancer and discovered a loved one is a severe alcoholic. This has brought to the fore some unsavory childhood memories. The spate of mass shootings in the past couple of days is also disturbing.
But art and writing are centering me.
You Can Feel This Way All the Time
S is for the Sun
When I was four, I stood in the backyard
dotted with dandelions and a baby pool
I looked up – the sun radiated my face
I felt melded with everything and life was so good
We were “poor”, but I did not know that
Dad was already worrying about college for his three kids
Mom cried and missed her family back in Korea
But the sun was out and I felt like a flower, blossoming
Wherever You Go
G is for Geography
Davenport, Iowa
my childhood: pizza and friends, rollerskating rinks and birthday parties, and
Tae Kwon Do
DeKalb, Illinois
my high school years, academic stress, Madonna and Prince, cornfields, detassling, Del Monte factory
Rochester, New York
holy-crap-cold, ice storms, tunnel systems, hibernation, isolation, spring, independence
San Francisco, California
Real freedom (!), real work, KKSF Radio, banking, teaching, marriage, babies, house, traffic
Mesa, Arizona
Culture shock, new home, dry heat, sweet violin music, educating, new friends, cancer, husband’s lay offs, writing, and stillness
Kismet 