Medusa

Photo Source: La Piccioletta Barca

I began the day
no – the day began
me 
o p e n i n g – closing – o p e n i n g – closing – o p e n i n g – clo –

give me those lemons – the  l  e  m  o  n  a  d  e
looks fresher in Greek –      λ ε μ ο ν ά δ α
that said, I’m not sure if it tasted fresher when
my mum got stung in Athens that day

CONTINUE READING: Medusa

it reminds me of the  p  o  k  e button
on bad old facebook – you know, that kind of stuff:
you ask                               w  h  y  m  e
the answer is           it’snotaboutyou

so you go see someone
and they – sometimes – say:
massaging with butter is all you need to heal the scars
at least that’s what J  e  n  n  y the good old nurse had said

sometimes it’s that e  a  s  y 
sometimes it’s not
sometimes you get poked by the  M  e  d usa
sometimes you don’t

no way to know, but
yes – the day will begin 
you 
o p e n i n g – closing – o p e n i n g – closing – o p e n i n g – clo –

Originally published in La Piccioletta Barca.

The Journey is the Thing

Art by Ella Frances Sanders

The journey is the thing.”

This quote by the ancient Greek poet Homer was written on a notebook I bought two years ago – a light blue, thin notebook with sea shells on it. It struck a chord deep within and I always came back to it, especially when I got lost in thought over the future, over the next ‘destination’, over the to-do lists. It always brought me back to ‘this moment’, the moment I was in, and helped me realize that this is all that I have, and all that I ever need.

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The Power of Choice

Photo Credit: Xuebing Du

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

This quote by Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor E. Frankl, the author of one of the most deeply touching, illuminating and thought-provoking books I’ve ever read, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, never ceases to give me goosebumps.

⁣We all have the innate power within, no matter whether we realize it or not, to connect with our inner core wisdom instead of getting caught in the web of our Ego, to respond with our heartfelt, genuine feelings and thoughts instead of reacting with our habitual defensive patterns and primitive coping mechanisms, to hold space for ourselves and embrace our vulnerability even in the most challenging situations, instead of wearing our armour and denying our humanness and resisting our pain, while unconsciously making it much bigger.

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True Freedom

Photo Credit: dilaquis
Photo Credit: dilaquis

Our fears aren’t monsters that we need to protect ourselves from by pulling the blanket over our heads as we used to do when we were little – they indeed have dark sides, but what in this vast universe doesn’t?

When they come to visit us, we may tightly shut the door to prevent them from entering, and start thinking that we’ve escaped them, that we’re free now. But what we may not realize is that we’ve shut the door not only to them but also to other emotions, other feelings that would’ve soon come to bring us light and peace and freedom… When we close that door, we in fact take away our freedom with our own hands that turn the key.

Instead, if we could try to connect with the wisdom we hold by looking within, and choose to take a step towards our painful emotions, even though the ground beneath our feet may tremble at the beginning, we will slowly begin to realize that with each step it becomes stronger. With each step that we take, with our strength, courage and confidence growing inside…

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Something of You

Illustration by Yifan Hu

A poem originally published in Any Segment Magazine.

Today 

There’s no sun

But there are still the tales

Of the sky

Tonight 

There’s no moon

But there’s still the light 

Of her eyes

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Silence

Image by unknown

A flash fiction story originally written for and published by The Story Seed.

What he liked most about this small town was the silence that enveloped everything. In winter, even the cars hibernated – all you could hear was the sound your footsteps made on the untouched snow. Late-night winter silence was particularly soothing.

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