The “CAN” Polish is Free

“Getting older is inevitable: Aging is optional” – Christine Northrup

I know, I know. It’s hard sometimes to get motivated to eat right and exercise, not only our bodies, but our minds. But since I’m about to scroll down another line to hit the year I was born (lucky cursor), I thought I’d find some inspiration.

Aging is a relative term. Some might feel their life is almost over when they hit the big 30. Others, like me, understand that we knew very little at that time.

As actress Helen Mirren said, “Your 40s are good.  Your 50s are great.  Your 60s are fab.  And 70 is f*@king awesome!”

Want to keep your get-up-and-go getting up and going? Ponder these:

— “For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.”   ~Hasidic saying

— “I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first half is finding out how you do it. And the second half is enjoying it.”  ~Frances Lear

— “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.”  ~Henry David Thoreau

— “I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is ‘anti.’ Aging is as natural as a baby’s softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in its pure form.”~ Jamie Lee Curtis

— “The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren’t as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.”    ~Maeve Binchy

— “We don’t grow older, we grow riper.” ~Pablo Picasso

— “You’re either marvelous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.” – Morrisse

— “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And Dreams are forever.” – Walt Disney

— “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” ~Robert Browning

 

Accept and be loyal to yourself.

And remember, that WON’T and CAN’T are two entirely different kettles.

The CAN polish is free.

still-life-old-classic-kettle-art-44733996

 

c7abd782d9a242b5f4cfc47885425bd6--kettle-claude

 

 

photo 1: Royal Free Stock Photos

Painting 2: by Claude Joseph Bail (1862-1921)

Daily Word Prompt: Loyal

Concede to breathe

Concede that much of life is beyond our control.

 

But recognize distinction

between fact or merely theory

what you can and cannot see

enlightened recognition

accept

adapt

succumb

to breathing free

winds-of-freedom-mona-davis_orig

 

 

photo credit

daily word prompt: Succumb

Quite the Keyboard

On a scale from from one to ten

where do you fit in?

On a scale from high to low

which direction do you go?

On a scale from left to right

undisturbed or too uptight?

On a scale from A to G

what matters is the harmony

Whatever range in which we fall

Quite the keyboard are we all!

My Art 059.jpg

 

 

 

Weekly photo challenge: SCALE

There is No Storm

 

You accept not your true self

You stepped, instead

into an guise

and bathed your limbs in bravado

the musky soap of self-deception

Don’t you know

you’re soaked in a false promise

to yourself, unrecognized?

 

Why shroud yourself in darkness,

within a cloud

of crystalized ice?

Do you not believe in yourself?

Are you afraid of the shadows?

Don’t you know

you’re cloak, soaked in fear

keeps you from paradise?

 

Shed that tattered, muscled cloak

It never truly keeps you warm.

There is no storm.

Male Nude known as Patroclus

 

photo page source

daily prompt: Cloaked

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Eyes are the Windows of a (fraudulent) Soul”

He was a fraud! While his wife did all the work, he took the credit.

While he went out to play with other women, she was locked away for fourteen hours a day to making their living.

He posed for photographs and squandered away the millions his wife made.

The Big Eyes of sad, melancholy children, stared back at Margaret for she was them and they were her. But the subservient Margaret kept quiet.

Until she didn’t.

She divorced Walter in 1965 and finally, in 1970 she told the truth. “I’m the artist of these paintings.”

After the lawsuit, “poor” Walter filed for bankruptcy and faded into his original, untalented self.

To read more about Margaret and Walter Keane, read here.

 

Daily prompt: Fraud

 

Accepting “I’m Not”

 

I’m a full-fledged non-hater

Evil, I’ve fought

 A fine moderator

                                        (except when I’m not)

Profound is my mind

It keeps trains of thought

I’m a woman refined

                                  (except when I’m not)

I’m a top-notch debater

find every weak spot

A master creator

                                 (except when I’m not)

I’m the queen idea lighter

weave interesting plots

I’m an excellent writer

                                 (except when I’m not)

I am quick to recover

heal when I ought

I’m an exceptional lover

                                 (except when I’m not)

I’m an fabulous teacher

all subjects I’ve taught

A perfect-made creature?

I accept I am not.

 

Accepting this non-exceptional self-portrait

My Art 010

 

 

Daily Word Prompt:  Exceptional

 

 

 

Superficial Bliss

not always black and white

The vastness of the wheat in field

Rich soil lies beneath?

No, Layer upon layers splay

To cover up the heath.

Who knows the truth I ask of you

Profound, I tell you this!

Uncovered, unexpected,

Lies a masquerade of bliss.

 

 

poetry and painting by CD-W

Daily Word prompt: Superficial

Quelling Dispair

Unknown

 

 

Life by Charlotte Bronte

LIFE, believe, is not a dream

So dark as sages say;

Oft a little morning rain

Foretells a pleasant day.

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,

But these are transient all;

If the shower will make the roses bloom,

O why lament its fall ?

Rapidly, merrily,

Life’s sunny hours flit by,

Gratefully, cheerily,

Enjoy them as they fly !

What though Death at times steps in

And calls our Best away ?

What though sorrow seems to win,

O’er hope, a heavy sway ?

Yet hope again elastic springs,

Unconquered, though she fell;

Still buoyant are her golden wings,

Still strong to bear us well.

Manfully, fearlessly,

The day of trial bear,

For gloriously, victoriously,

Can courage quell despair !

 

 

Art

Daily word prompt: Elastic