Quote of the Week

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"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings." 

-- Pearl S. Buck

Quote of the Week

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness; nothing so gentle as real strength."

 -- St. Francis de Sale

Quote of the Week

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I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves. 

--Wilma Mankiller, (former) Chief of the Cherokee Nation 

Quote of the Week

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In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. 

--Albert Camus 

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Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. 

--Kahlil Gibran  

Quote of the Day

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“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”

--Paulo Coelho 

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Today is not yesterday: we ourselves change; how can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same? Change, indeed is painful; yet ever needful; and if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope.

--Thomas Carlysle 

Quote of the Week

Something comes up like bubbles to the surface, bringing up another part of ourselves that has been silent; that we were in the dark about. Lurking. Nightmares aren't my favorite thing. I want to feel safe, period. My soul wants to feel safe not terrorized. For many years, I shut down that place inside myself that needed to rage, cry, ask questions and basically just express herself. I made a conscious choice when I put 'Me and a Gun' on the record not to stay a victim anymore. The last thing I want to be known as is 'The Girl Who Got Raped'. The big turn around you make in your head is from victim to survivor.  It's about realizing, painfully, you've kept that voice inside yourself, locked away from even yourself. And you step back and see that your jailer has changed faces. You realize you've become your own jailer.  The idea is to rescue myself from the role of a victim. That I have a choice left. Though I can't change what has happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up.  I think you have to know who you are, get to know the monster that lives in your soul, dive deep into your soul and explore it.  I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmare.  I think that the nightmares are telling me things about myself that I need to know. And I try to understand what they mean, so I can get to know something more about my soul.  I am finding that vulnerability gives me great strength, because you're not hiding anymore.

--Tori Amos 

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Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. 

--Viktor E. Frankl 

Dear Friend,

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Luv, when I say that I love you, the emphases are on love and you. I love and accept you for the person that you are, as well as for who you were and the you that you've yet to find. Let life bring on the storms and thunders and broken roads. It'll be okay. I'll be right next to ya with an umbrella and a compass. Let's wait out the storms, and together, we'll hold out for the rainbow peeking on the horizon.We're in this together. 


Love,
Me

Deliverance from the Robed Boogeyman

Blessed Father, oh how you have sinned! 

Has it been 5, 15, or 30 years since

the dates infallible Joe Ratzinger omitted? 

This madness, this crime committed:

   Names crossed out

     Faces obscured

        Defilement in Shadows,

     Little boys' screams silenced,

   Truth be damned, 
       MURDERED.

Predators'---yours!--memorized verses

   uttered behind polished mahogany screens,

Robotic rituals--cleansing, you say--,

   Insincere atonement,

     A mockery of (y)our God's Grace.

This sickness, this monster

Boston-Belfast-Berlin Migration. 

 Boogeyman in Sacred Robes,
           May God deliver us from your evil

In This Skin: A Reclamation

I have a story to tell, silently and without words: 

'Tis a map laid bare

past drapes of fabric

and layers of armour

and bandages.

Can I trust you

to see past the curves and twists and turns,

the zigzags and crisscrosses invisible

but defining?

Beneath both smooth, unblemished surface

and raised, jagged scar tissue,

dark shadows and fiery bursts of colours mark my skin.

Tattooes etched by

nameless and faceless

artists' hands bring into being

what I cannot say:

This imperfect body is far from beautiful,

but there can be beauty in ugliness
so long as you listen to the story it has to tell.

I am a survivor.

Sierra Cooper: The Woman Behind the Wish

With less than a month to live, Sierra Cooper lives a dream 

Source: Terre Haute Star Tribune | December 5, 2009

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By Sue Loughlin, The Tribune-Star

CLINTON December 05, 2009 09:51 pm

— The kiss was unlike any other she had received, and it came from a funny-looking guy with a big nose and rubbery skin.

But the joy on Sierra Cooper’s face was unmistakable as she stood in a pool at the Indianapolis Zoo, and Kimo, the 450-pound bottle-nosed dolphin, lifted his head out of the water and gave her a slippery, wet peck on the cheek.

In late November, the 21-year-old Clinton resident fulfilled one of her dreams by spending a day with the zoo dolphins and getting to know Kimo, Sundance and that mischievous juvenile, 7-year-old Jett.

Donning a wet suit and life jacket, Sierra spent 30 minutes in the 80-degree water with her favorite animals. Beforehand, she attended an educational program about dolphins and then watched a scheduled performance.

Later, she had her own, individualized dolphin experience and got to touch them, feed them and give them commands.

“It was awesome,” she said.

Spending time with the dolphins was not only a dream come true, but also it is one of Sierra’s last wishes.

She is dying, and her health care providers say she probably has less than a month to live.

Continue reading after the cut:

Let's all contribute to grant Sierra Cooper's Christmas wish for her family

21-year-old raises money for her funeral

Her final Christmas wish

Updated: Tuesday, 22 Dec 2009, 11:08 AM EST

Published : Monday, 21 Dec 2009, 6:12 PM EST

* Amanda Jarrett

CLINTON, Ind. (WTHI) - Just days before Christmas, a young woman with muscular dystrophy is planning her own funeral, so she won't leave the burden behind for her family.

Sierra Cooper, 21, has battled muscular dystrophy her entire life, then she received another blow: Being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Now, Sierra faces a grim outlook and doctors said she has little time left.

"If it was up to me, she'd have another 30 to 40 years and she'd bury me," Sallie Cooper, Sierra's mother, said. "You're not supposed to bury your child."

Sierra may only have weeks left. This Christmas, her wish isn't under the tree this year. She's asking for donations to help pay for her funeral.

"I love my parents and I don't want them to be struggling when I'm gone," Sierra said.

Sierra isn't eligible for life insurance. Every day is a struggle for the 21-year-old, as she's hooked to a pack of oxygen and medicine. That's why her mother wants to give her the only thing she can: A proper funeral.

"She'll never get a wedding, so I want to do something special for her," Sallie said. "She's been planning her own funeral, so of course I want to give her the funeral she wants."

While she's planning for her final days, Sierra said she's found peace.

"I'm going to be with God and I'm going to be pain-free, no oxygen, no pain pump," Sierra said. "I'm going to be normal for once and be able to do the stuff you guys take for granted."

For now, she's living life one day at a time. Sierra prepares for a final Christmas. She's hoping for help as she leaves her family behind.

If you'd like to help the Cooper family, you can make donations to the Sierra Cooper Benefit Fund at any First Financial Bank location . Contact First Financial Bank at 812-238-6000.

First Financial Bank

PO Box 220

Clinton, IN 47842

Queen Lili'uokalani, "He Mele Lāhui Hawai'i" (The Song of the Hawaiian Nation)*

Ka Makua mana loa   

Almighty Father bend your ear

Maliu mai iā mākou

And listen to a nation's prayer

E hāliu aku nei

That lowly bows before your throne

Me ka naʻau haʻahaʻa

And seeks your protective care

E mau ka maluhia

Grant your peace throughout the land

O nei pae ʻāina

Over these sunny islands 

Mai Hawaiʻi a Niʻihau

Keep the nation's life, oh Lord,

Ma lalo o kou malu

And on our sovereign smile

E mau ke ea o ka ʻāina

Grant your peace throughout the land

Ma kou pono mau

Over these sunny islands

A ma kou mana nui

Keep the nation's life, oh Lord

E ola e ola ka mōʻī

And upon our sovereign smile

E ka haku mālama mai  

Guard him with your gentle care

I ko mākou nei mōʻī

Give him long years to reign

E mau kona noho ʻana

On the throne his (fore)fathers won

Maluna o ka noho aliʻi

Bless the nation once again

Hāʻawi mai i ke aloha

Give the king your loving grace

Maloko a kona naʻau

And with wisdom from high (above) 

A ma kou ahonui

Prosperous lead his people on

E ola e ola ka mōʻī

As beneath your watchful eye

Hoʻoho e mau ke

Grant your peace throughout the land

Ma lalo o kou aloha nui

Bless o Lord our country's chiefs

Nā Liʻi o ke Aupuni

Grant them wisdom in order to live

Me nā makaʻāinana

So that our people may be saved

Ka lehulehu nō a pau

And to You the glory give

Kiaʻi mai iā lākou

Watch over us each day

Me ke aloha ahonui

King and people with your love

E ola nō mākou

For our hope is all in You

I kou mana mau

Bless us, You who reign above

E mau ke ea

Grant your peace throughout the land

*I tried my best to do a  verbatim Hawaiian-English translation, and did it in a way so as not to lose its original essence. As most linguists or translators know, there are some words/sayings that are difficult to translate or convey into another language, and a delicate balance between meaning and definition must be found. 

Queen Lili'uokalani

"The people to whom your fathers told of the living God, and 
taught to call 'Father,' and whom the sons now seek to despoil and destroy, are crying aloud to Him in their time of trouble; and He will keep His promise, and will listen to the voices of His Hawaiian children lamenting for their homes."

Whitney Houston, I Didn't Know My Own Strength

Lost touch with my soul

I had nowhere to turn

I had nowhere to go

Lost sight of my dream,

Thought it would be the end of me I

I thought I'd never make it through

I had no hope to hold on to, I

I thought I would break

I didn't know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn't know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn't know my own strength oh

Found hope in my heart,

I found the light to life

My way out of the dark

Found all that I need

Here inside of me oh

I thought I'd never find my way

I thought I'd never lift that weight

I thought I would break

I didn't know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain

I didn't know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn't know my own strength

There were so many times I

Wondered how I'd get through the night I

Thought I took all that I could take

I didn't know my own strength

And I crashed down, and I tumbled

But I did not crumble

I got through all the pain oh

I didn't know my own strength

Survived my darkest hour

My faith kept me alive

I picked myself back up

I Hold my head up high

I was not built to break

I didn't know my own strength

I was not built to break

NO NO

I got to know my own strength.

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It's so easy, isn't it? It's so much easier to allow a seed of doubt planted by others to take root and rise into our consciousness. It's easier to keep our heavy-lidded eyes focused on the ground, and watch the chiaroscuro of our shadows as the sun radiates above us.


It's easier to allow ourselves to believe that we're dirty, broken, damaged goods, worthless, or impure than to scream out--scream 'til we pierce our throats raw--the ugly truth of rape to a judging world. It's easier to concur with the media's definition of beauty than to assert our own.

Easier, yes. But right? HELL NO!


So be kind to yourself. Measure your worth not through societal constructs, but through the light and grace that's within you.


You are brave. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are clean. You are worthy.



You are you.

Maya Angelou, Still I Rise

  You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops.

Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

 I rise

I rise

 I rise.