Optical Illusion

September 25

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

“Like my new frames?” I ask my sponsor.

“Who wrote your prescription?”

“Oh, the lenses aren’t new, just the frames,” I reply.

“You want to be seen differently but you want to see things the same old way.  My question still stands.  Who wrote you the script for those funhouse glasses you have used all your life? Did it ever occur to you the distortion is ground into the glass?  Remember, some people need you to see things as other than what they are.  Unhappy families look great if you can’t see them too clearly.  It’s hard to know what to say to keep the peace, said Grandma.  She never took off her specs to see there was no peace to keep.  So, I will ask you again.  The view of the world you base your choices on, who chose the color you see it through?”

Breathe to improve your mind and mood.

*

Green Wood

When a nail is hammered into a living tree,

the tree is forever changed.

Even if the barb is pulled out

he tree will never be the same.

If the spike remains and the tree lives;

over time the nail will be incorporated,

the tree will get on with the business of living

and carry the thing as just a part of what it took to get here.

What was trauma is trauma,

but life is big and the longer it gets

the larger the life, is the hope.

Piercing experience is engulfed by rings of fresh wood

and a will to grow beyond the moment of impact.

The tree branches out and even a hundred nails can’t stop that.

You are reading selections from Sober on the Way to Sane and More Lines From My Life by Sherrie Theriault

http://www.amazon.com/Sober-On-The-Way-Sane/dp/1440417342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388576888&sr=8-1&keywords=sober+on+the+way+to+sane

http://www.amazon.com/More-Lines-From-My-Life/dp/1448677203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388576956&sr=8-1&keywords=More+Lines+From+My+Life

Optical Illusion

July 6

OPTICAL ILLUSION

From the right angle a hatpin can appear taller than the Empire State Building.  I can skew my perspective to such an extreme or let my disease do it for me.  I can believe myself to be other than I am: the sweetest, kindest------smartest, quickest------smallest, slowest-------lowest, meanest.  I can see myself as all this and more as long as I squint with one eye and look at only half of any issue.  I can play the parts and act as if these things are true.  I can even get others to play along.  I can make fantasy fact if I lower the floor.  I can die in the basement, many do.  I can turn my face from science and be the center of all that spins..…OR….. I can climb the stairs to ground level.  I can turn my mind to facts and fractions.  Leave my better-than, less-than universe and see the height of everything and stand tall with both my eyes open.

Put a surprise in your pocket.

*

Keeping My Seat

I can sit through this. I can do it,

even when I don’t remember that I want to.

I will get through this no matter how it tweaks me

and I squirm in my seat.

In spite of the unfairness of it all,

I can do what is right, because that is what is best for me.

Acting out or giving up are options that I have.

I like me too much to choose so poorly.

When this is all settled I will still have me

no matter what else I gain or lose.

If I don’t like me anymore I have lost everything,

if I can hold my head up, proud of my behavior

this is the most valuable gain.

Love is only love

if I am still here to feel it,

so I will sit still.

You are reading selections from Sober on the Way to Sane and More Lines From My Life by Sherrie Theriault

http://www.amazon.com/Sober-On-The-Way-Sane/dp/1440417342/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388576888&sr=8-1&keywords=sober+on+the+way+to+sane

http://www.amazon.com/More-Lines-From-My-Life/dp/1448677203/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388576956&sr=8-1&keywords=More+Lines+From+My+Life

Optical Illusions

September 25

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

“Like my new frames?” I ask my sponsor.

“Who wrote your prescription?”

“Oh, the lenses aren’t new, just the frames,” I reply.

“You want to be seen differently but you want to see things the same old way.  My question still stands.  Who wrote you the script for those funhouse glasses you have used all your life? Did it ever occur to you the distortion is ground into the glass?  Remember, some people need you to see things as other than what they are.  Unhappy families look great if you can’t see them too clearly.  It’s hard to know what to say to keep the peace, said Grandma.  She never took off her specs to see there was no peace to keep.  So, I will ask you again.  The view of the world you base your choices on, who chose the color you see it through?”

Breathe to improve your mind and mood.

*

Green Wood

When a nail is hammered into a living tree,

the tree is forever changed.

Even if the barb is pulled out

he tree will never be the same.

If the spike remains and the tree lives;

over time the nail will be incorporated,

the tree will get on with the business of living

and carry the thing as just a part of what it took to get here.

What was trauma is trauma,

but life is big and the longer it gets

the larger the life, is the hope.

Piercing experience is engulfed by rings of fresh wood

and a will to grow beyond the moment of impact.

The tree branches out and even a hundred nails can’t stop that.

Optical Illusion

July 6

OPTICAL ILLUSION

From the right angle a hatpin can appear taller than the Empire State Building.  I can skew my perspective to such an extreme or let my disease do it for me.  I can believe myself to be other than I am: the sweetest, kindest------smartest, quickest------smallest, slowest-------lowest, meanest.  I can see myself as all this and more as long as I squint with one eye and look at only half of any issue.  I can play the parts and act as if these things are true.  I can even get others to play along.  I can make fantasy fact if I lower the floor.  I can die in the basement, many do.  I can turn my face from science and be the center of all that spins..…OR….. I can climb the stairs to ground level.  I can turn my mind to facts and fractions.  Leave my better-than, less-than universe and see the height of everything and stand tall with both my eyes open.

Put a surprise in your pocket.

*

Keeping My Seat

I can sit through this. I can do it,

even when I don’t remember that I want to.

I will get through this no matter how it tweaks me

and I squirm in my seat.

In spite of the unfairness of it all,

I can do what is right, because that is what is best for me.

Acting out or giving up are options that I have.

I like me too much to choose so poorly.

When this is all settled I will still have me

no matter what else I gain or lose.

If I don’t like me anymore I have lost everything,

if I can hold my head up, proud of my behavior

this is the most valuable gain.

Love is only love

if I am still here to feel it,

so I will sit still.

Optical Illusions

July 6

OPTICAL ILLUSION


From the right angle a hatpin can appear taller than the Empire State Building. I can skew my perspective to such an extreme or let my disease do it for me. I can believe myself to be other than I am: the sweetest, kindest------smartest, quickest------smallest, slowest-------lowest, meanest. I can see myself as all this and more as long as I squint with one eye and look at only half of any issue. I can play the parts and act as if these things are true. I can even get others to play along. I can make fantasy fact if I lower the floor. I can die in the basement, many do. I can turn my face from science and be the center of all that spins..…OR….. I can climb the stairs to ground level. I can turn my mind to facts and fractions. Leave my better-than, less-than universe and see the height of everything and stand tall with both my eyes open.


Put a surprise in your pocket.