The San Francisco heat wave, our yearly week of Summer, finally breaks & I quietly rejoice. I am not made for hot weather – or at least hot weather where there isn’t a clean ocean or river or lake or large puddle to go swimming or stomping in.
September is knocking on the door of October, and if I had to choose a favorite, I think October would be it. I remember the way some of the places I have lived changed their color, the reds & oranges & hints of stubborn green flooding the air & ground as if the world was on fire, sacrificing itself in some sacred way to become the stark, haunting & beautiful bare branches of Winter.
The energy of Change is in the air. It finds its way into my blood – and my memory.
Twelve years & four days ago I decided to follow my dreams, whatever they were & whatever it took. Shortly after I was working with The Dresden Dolls & my life changed forever.
It was on this day that my beloved Bean was hit by a train in Austin & killed, a few hours and eleven years ago.
Ten years less a week ago I received an email from Mike asking if I was interested in becoming a permanent part of the Vau De Vire family.
Six years & eight days ago I first stepped into the hospice, walking in easily enough but rapidly dying one week later as my body began to shut down.
Five years & a month ago I did what the doctors thought impossible, and walked out alive.
Four years & a month ago I talked with my Birth Mother for the first time in my life.
Nov. 23, 2013
Two years & a week ago I first spoke to my Birth Father, who until shortly before that had no idea I existed.
And now I feel the story of this man should – will – change again. I’ve already begun to kick a nine-year morphine addiction & plan to have that entirely behind me in less than a week… yet I feel that is far from enough. I want more. Monumental change. I thrive on the shit. It’s my lifeblood, my constant need. When life gets too comfortable, too predictable, I have a bad habit of stepping into a dangerous dance to bring back, to summon life’s music – and far too much is dangerous these days.
The dreams I still have, but the energy to reach for them is as scarred as my liver. I will keep moving forward, doing my best to rip through the barriers, the walls both inside & out. Both physical & mental.
The failed Kickstarter shook me. It hit hard and I fell.
It’s time to rise again. Dust myself off and move on.
I will keep moving forward.
I will live to make my dreams come true.
I see the sun shining outside, feel the sharp chill of the breeze that cuts through my window. Today will be cooler…
and I rejoice.
of Petals & Thorns 