Right now, I'm following the Buddhist principle: Smile as abuse is hurled your way and this too shall pass.

Not the torturer will scare me, nor the body's final fall, nor the barrels of death's rifles, nor the shadows on the wall, nor the night when to the ground the last dim star of pain, is hurled but the blind indifference of a merciless, unfeeling world.

On my 50th birthday in 2005, my discount-wielding AARP card came in the mail. I hurled it in the trash, put on something fabulous, and had a decadent meal. Just the thought of putting it in my wallet felt like a concession.

Call it a home or sanctuary if you wish, but it is a glasshouse of palatial power that keeps you trapped within; for every stone that is hurled inside, can we repair cries and sharded skin to bleed new wine?" -The Walls Of Imprisonment @reenadossauthor

After telling the hard facts to anyone from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes. Often it is awe or admiration, sometimes it is repulsion, once or twice it has been fury hurled directly at me for reasons I remain unsure of.

Right now I'm following the Buddhist principle: Smile as abuse is hurled your way and this too shall pass.

Not the torturer will scare me nor the body's final fall nor the barrels of death's rifles nor the shadows on the wall nor the night when to the ground the last dim star of pain is hurled but the blind indifference of a merciless unfeeling world.