Memento Inktober 18: Phantom

a dark shape
floating in the corner
observing
not interacting
not interrupting
just there
present
aware
watching
learning
judging
deciding
planning
for what happens next
unknown
often unseen
unnoticed
ignored
we like our ignorance
treat it like bliss
believe that
to know is to hurt
to not know is better
debatable
either way
the phantom is present
just there
not interrupting
not interacting
observing
floating in the corner
a dark shape

Memento Inktober 17: Metamorphosis

Change comes when we least expect it. Forced upon us by circumstance and events outside our control. The universe has a plan. We don't get the details. Metamorphosis happens on nature's timeline, not ours. Control is an illusion. What is is what is. And what will be will be.

Memento Inktober 16: Moth

Small fuzzy insect
Blending into the background
Hardly ever seen

Memento Inktober 15: Memento Homo

"Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you shall return."

Everything is a cycle. From whence we came we shall return. What goes around comes around. Another trip around the sun. There are patterns everywhere if we're willing to see them. We can benefit from them or continue to repeat the same over and over again. There are lessons for us to learn if we're willing. As one of my teacher's said, the universe will tap you on the shoulder to try to get your attention. If you don't acknowledge the lesson, eventually the universe hits you in the head with a two by four so that you no longer have a choice. We all come from the same source and will return to it when this life is done. It's the in between that's the challenge, the adventure, the fun. What are you doing with it? Are you doing what you want to be? If not, what's stopping you? Odds are, if you really look into it, you're the one in your own way. Take a step back. See the bigger picture. What part do you want in it? Our time is limited so do what you love. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the ride. Embrace the adventure. Remember, man...

Memento Inktober 14: Triumph of Death

Time is limited
Life only lasts us so long
The triumph of death

Memento Inktober 13: Grotesque

Disturbing
distorted
ugly
repulsive
comedic even

Disfigured
not what you expect
maybe the opposite
worse
creepy
potentially evil
potentially not

How do you react?
With disgust?
Do you recoil?
Or maybe lean in to it?
A kind of fascination?
Curiosity
wonder
Wanting to know more

Memento Inktober 12: Sacrifice

Sacrifice:
to give up for the sake of a better cause

What are you willing to sacrifice?
time
money
love
possessions
life
soul
freedom
sleep
nothing

For what would you sacrifice?
god
the universe
your partner
parents
children
friends
family
work
money
fame
knowledge
nothing

There's always a line
always a price
Varies by person
depending on beliefs
desires
passions
what we've been taught

Sometimes sacrifice is
needed
worthy
powerful
wasted
unneccessary
useless

Consider
motives
needs
potential outcomes
Before
giving up anything
for anyone
including yourself.

Memento Inktober 11: Bride of the Grave

Doomed to wait an eternity for a love who isn't coming back.

Memento Inktober 10: White Death

White death
sharp shooter
never see it coming
confusion
mixed feelings
and it's over
thanks
Simo Häyhä

Memento Inktober 9: Judgment

Judgment. An assessment of a situation, of a feeling, of a moment, of others, of ourselves. Often talked about as a negative thing. Creating a goal of being non-judgmental, which, for all intensive purposes, as a human being is impossible. We are wired for judgment. It's what keeps us safe and functional. We judge whether or not to enter a situation. We judge whether or not to eat something. We judge if we think the people around us are good or bad.We judge our own choices based on the results, often forgetting what lead us to that choice in the first place. We're harshest on ourselves. I think mostly because we're taught to be. So many things create judgments that tell us we aren't good enough for a variety of reasons. Generally they're trying to sell us something but that's doesn't erase the impact. A negative voice forms in the back of our minds always negatively judging out choices, who and what we are. There's a positive judgment happening too but unfortunately it's usually quieter, shoved into the background, and yet endlessly cheering us on. Endlessly hoping for better and believing that we are enough regardless of circumstance and such. It knows we are enough as we are, right here and now. We are enough. Judgments are just that. Judgment. An assessment. It's not fact. It's an opinion. Sometimes they fit and sometimes they don't, good or bad. Take it all with a grain of salt. Celebrate the positives and the wins, learn and grow from the negatives and the losses. We're always developing and changing. Judgments just point us in the direction we need to look, the areas we need to assess and decide what we want to do with, if anything. It's your life. Do with it what you will.

Memento Inktober 8: Imprisoned

trapped
caged
surrounded
by bars
made
from
others
expectations

forgetting myself
to fit the mould
forgetting myself
to make it easier
forgetting myself
to be yours

building
a barrier
keeping
me in
or you out
not sure yet
either way
i can't leave

imprisoned
in my own
weakness
trapped
by my own
fears
not knowing
where
to find
a key

Memento Inktober 7: Psychopomp

A guide.
Direction.
Point A to point B
No judgement,
nor opinion.
Spirit to take you through,
to get you where you are to go.
No thought.
No decision.
A job.
A purpose.
Soul manager.
In to your afterlife.
A cleanse.
A transition support.
A compass of sorts.
One direction.
One destination.
No opinion,
nor judgement.
Point A to point B.
Direction.
A guide.

Memento Inktober 6: Afterlife

What comes next? Unknown. Lots of theories. Lots of ideas. Nothing. Something. Anything. Ghost. Heaven. Hell. Reincarnation - begin again. Rebirth as something else, somewhere else. A second chance. Melt back into the mist. Rejoin the greater energy that everything stems from. Afterlife...we have no idea what may or may not be. From this I learn to be present in this life, in this moment. I don't know how long it's going to last or what's going to happen but I want to live every moment I can. I want to be present for the good, the bad, the joyful, the painful, the whole spectrum this life has to offer. I'm not placing bets on what awaits in the afterlife. What I know is that I have this moment. Nothing more, nothing less. Just right here, right now, and I'm going to make the best of it. This is my life and I plan to live it.

Memento Inktober 5: Hourglass

Time trickles by, one grain at a time. Each marking a moment that was but is not longer. The ones above standing in for time yet to come. Do you sit and watch it slip by? Or are you actively present in the moment, unaware of the hourglass counting the moments? We each have a limit. Do you stress about what it is? Or do you believe you're going to live forever? Grain by grain it flows through the curves. What goes through your head when you watch it? Do you think of life or death or something else entirely? What is time really? A construct. Something somewhere along the way we collectively agreed existed. Do you value it? Yours and others? Do you see the limits? Do you pretend they aren't there? Eventually all the sand in the top will be in the bottom. What then? What happens next? No way of knowing till we get there. And once there, no way of letting those left behind know. Make the most of your sand collection. Don't take any grain for granted. Value each moment. Live and be present because you never know when it's going to run out.

Memento Inktober 4: Limbo

The space in between
Wandering through the nothing
Not knowing what's next

Memento Inktober 3: Totentanz

Do you hear the rhythm? Can you feel the beat? The masses are coming. Step by step. In ones and twos and threes. Staccato movement with accents of shrieks. Slow and steady. Quick and neat. Surprising limber for the state of their feet. Dark and dreary, lively and sweet. There's magic in the air with each note rising, bringing forth those who once were but are no longer. Twisting and twirling, turning and flowing. Smooth like jazz and yet rough around the edges. There's a life lost and a life gained. Eye for an eye but not quite the same. The tempo rises, the energy soars. Crescendo reached and release. A collective exhale as they return to the ground. The dance of the dead is now complete, but it's a beat that never really ends.

Memento Inktober 2: Thanatophobia

A rough way to live
fearing the end.
Concerned with every dark corner
and what may be around the bend.

Consumed by not knowing
and lost in wonder.
Jumping three feet
with every crash of thunder.

No present in the moment
merely surviving.
Just going through the motions
not really thriving.

Lost in the dark
not knowing how to live,
death takes over
with nothing to give.

Memento Inktober 1: Pestilence

Pestilence walks by as others fall
dis-ease and destruction in the wake
a dark kind of magic
completely natural
unnerving
unsettling
cleansing
infectious
erasing
for a fresh start
nature always wins

Memento Inktober Intro

Going to use these as writing prompts to doing some creating this month. As it's the third so I'm starting late (I just found it today) there will be three pieces put up today. The plan is to take the prompt (possibly looking up meanings as I'm not familiar with all things on here) and write here then post, no overthinking, no editing. Let's see how this goes.

Your move

I miss you

I hurt

I’m torn between reaching out and walking away

A photo reminder of what was

Left with thoughts of how did we end up here?

An email sent, responses ignored

Threats made to force a reply

How did we get here?

We each made choices that hurt the other, said things we maybe shouldn’t have said, taken things to heart that deserve forgiveness but not knowing how to give it

I asked to set a time to talk

You asked to play it by ear

I haven’t heard from you

You can barely look at me

I don’t understand how we got here and I can’t understand on my own

I thought what we had mattered and would be strong enough to survive

We’ve both been caught up in our own stuff and this may just be too much

Maybe our time has run its course and all we can do is continue moving forward to see if our paths will cross again

Maybe it hasn’t

Maybe you’ll see this and be ready to see me, to talk about the hurt and forgive

Maybe I’ll see your name on a message

Maybe I won’t

.

.

.

Your move