Carapace?

Thalia crowed. “Errrr-er-er-errrr! Nice chicken.”

“Rooster.” Urania laughed. Seeing as it was Typist’s first watercolor foul, the Muse of Determination was willing to cut her some slack.

“What does carapace mean?” Cal asked.

“It’s a shell… a protective covering,” said Nia. “Why?”

“Mmmmm… that makes sense,” said Calliope. “I just read the phrase ‘breaking this carapace’ in reference to listening and communication. It seems that when we really hear each other… all parties soften and feel less alone. When we feel heard… we’re not as concerned about being right… or wrong.”

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Words from Typist:

Still feeling like something the cat drug in. If I remember correctly, the oncologist said that side effects peak between days 7-10.

I’m keeping up with as much positive self-talk as I can muster, but I gotta tell you… muses without coffee and dessert for five days don’t make it easy!

I finished reading Bitter-sweet by Susan Cain yesterday. I dog-eared one page because a paragraph spoke right to my heart — a testament to the beauty and significance of the written word. A man named Breitbart, who I’ll never likely meet, was able to speak to me through Cain’s book.

He said:

And the big event that I deal with now every day is the diagnosis of life-threatening cancer. That really knocks you off your life trajectory. The challenge is — how do you transcend this new trajectory? Your responsibility is to create a life of meaning. Of growth and transformation. It so happens that very few people grow from success. People grow from failure. They grow from adversity. They grow from pain.

My response is to keep showing up here… with the hope that my words speak to you.