I want to live the rest of my life...
I want to live
the rest of my life,
however long or short,
with as much sweetness
as I can decently manage,
loving all the people I love,
and doing as much as I can
of the work I still have to do.
I am going to write fire
until it comes out of my ears,
my eyes, my noseholes--everywhere.
Until it's every breath I breathe.
I'm going to go out like a fucking meteor!
the rest of my life,
however long or short,
with as much sweetness
as I can decently manage,
loving all the people I love,
and doing as much as I can
of the work I still have to do.
I am going to write fire
until it comes out of my ears,
my eyes, my noseholes--everywhere.
Until it's every breath I breathe.
I'm going to go out like a fucking meteor!
- Audre Lorde
Audre Lorde (February 18, 1934–November 17, 1992) received a medical diagnosis shortly before her 50th birthday. After refusing surgery or a biopsy, Lorde writes about fear,
"I want to write down everything I know about being afraid, but I’d probably never have enough time to write anything else. Afraid is a country where they issue us passports at birth and hope we never seek citizenship in any other country. The face of afraid keeps changing constantly, and I can count on that change. I need to travel light and fast, and there’s a lot of baggage I’m going to have to leave behind me."
When faced with fear, how do you go on living your life? How do you find clarity and determination in those moments?