Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I’m going to summarize a lot of it, but some isn’t for me to share. So it’s like this: At the end of February, I had a spontaneous carotid dissection. A lot of the time this leads to a stroke, but in my case it didn’t. In my case, it led to complete loss of vision in my left eye.

I really haven’t posted much about it for several reasons, but the most important of them is that I don’t like to share every little detail of my personal life on the internet. It’s bad enough that I share so much in my poetry and art, but this seemed to be across so many lines, I just wanted to leave it alone.  As time goes on, I realize it’s important for folks to have some clue about it though.

The thing is, it did affect my writing and my art. It is my new reality. When you read my poetry or look at my artwork, you’re going to notice themes and they make much more sense if you know a bit about what I’m dealing with. That is one of the things that’s been going on. Not the worst of them, not the most difficult, not even the scariest – but it is a big one.

Besides that, there have been some family health issues, and a loss in the family. These are horrible, and sad, and scary, and they too are showing up in what I am doing. I think what surprises me the most is how they have lifted me up rather than brought me down. As keenly has I feel all the hurts and loss, I suddenly see how much joy and how many precious gifts I have and it would be ungrateful to be forlorn or wallow in despair.

Life is good. It’s really that simple.