1.
White Noise — a painting by Saul Bateman
From the Community
Explore the nooks and crannies of your psyche through Saul’s surreal pieces. More on his Instagram.
2.
When Death Comes — a poem by Mary Oliver
From Offline
When Death Comes
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it's over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
In acknowledgment of those who have made a difference in my life, who have since gone.
3.
On Being Alive — a quote from Marc Maron
From the Internet
“The only way I know I'm alive is if things happen that I haven't planned.”
— Marc Maron
REFLECTION
What’s the last unplanned thing that made you feel alive?