The ONLY REAL way to eradicate PAIN is to EMBRACE it...

This is not to say that one should WELCOME pain in some sort of masochistic way...
No,,not at all...
Nor should one REVEL in the potential MARTYRDOM inherent therein....

It's more like this:
Think of the metaphor of the GREAT WAVE ON THE OCEAN....
There are only two choices when faced with a HUGE, CRUSHING WAVE...
One can TRY and jump over it, which can ONLY result in calamity and/or fatality...
or...
One can simply DIVE DIRECTLY INTO IT....and safely and CERTAINLY come out the other side... unscathed...

Pain is a a mandatory component of a well-rounded life....
Without it, there would be no sense of WELL-BEING or SATISFACTION....
For life is a series of constant comparisons....
We judge and emote and reason
ONLY as a result of "tapping into our empirical dossier"...

Is this making sense ??

Opportunities Are Never Packaged Quite the Way We'd Anticipated....

We think that we are longing for the scent of Fresh Roses...
but somehow we find the heady aroma of a Man's Sweat  infinitely more intoxicating...
We have a sudden urge for a Burger and Fries...
but at the last moment, we opt for an Ice Cream Sundae....
And it Exponentially Satisfies our hunger...
We are Moved to Tears by Gospel Music....
But Our Hearts are REALLY Awakened ONLY by Klezmer....

We THINK that we want ONE THING...
But all the while, we REALLY want something else....
The package that is wrapped so magnificently in Golden Cellophane...
well....
it holds essentially NOTHING for us....
But the PLAIN, CARDBOARD BOX in the corner....
THAT, my friends,
hold the KEYS to the KINGDOM just inside of its UNASSUMING FACADE....

Don't be so sure....
 that that which you THINK you want...
 is REALLY that which you WANT AT ALL...
Don't be so sure...
That's all I'm sayin'....

Never Forget....

Holocaust Remembrance Day....
We remember the plague of German Reach to exterminate and annihilate  our people...
The unimaginable reality that this Evil Force had such power...such legs beneath it...
We remember that MILLIONS of  innocents were heaped in piles as though they were old, stained burlap...
ready to be burnt as a result of only their uselessness...
We remember that our simple ability to "trust" was forever lost during these calamitous years...
We became something MORE than a "PEOPLE"...
We became a "CAUSE" somehow...
Indignant...Defiant....
Our innocence was buried along with our families beneath the rubble of bodies there in the
notorious "Camps"....
We now are forever saddled with the almost insurmountable MISSION of
 "moving on"....of "living well"....
of attaining success...happiness...even freedom ....
while all at once "putting history aside" and "NEVER FORGETTING"....
And we SHALL BE TRIUMPHANT ....
for ultimately...
This is our destiny....

And as the sun began to set on this particular Friday evening...

she was reminded of those Friday nights long ago...
in her parents' home...
Shabbos Proper...
Challah and Kiddush and Chicken and Z'mirot...
Laughing and kidding and sometimes crying too...
But ALWAYS...ALWAYS...
cognizant of that feeling
of being swaddled in the fine, soft blanket of Shabbos...
Talking around the table...
Reading the weekly Parsha with her Father, (Zichrono Livracha)...
Oh, my goodness, how he had LOVED SHABBOS....
when the world STOPPED just for a moment...
when there was stillness.....
and a STATUESQUE STILLNESS it was...
Higher and Loftier and More Elegant than anything 'worldly'....
Yes...
an "OTHER-WORLDLY" stillness....
A MANDATORY DAY OF REST...
Marvelous in its utter simplicity....
Sweet times they were....

She wore WHITE....

Not that "BRIDEY, GIRLY" kind of white ..

Not formal, evening white either...

Just a summery, care-free looking, white dress....

Yes, admitedly she was "pushing the season" a bit...

But honestly.....

Could you blame her ?

It had been QUITE the winter...inclement,,,cold,,,snowing,,,raining,,,miserable actually...

All she wanted in the world at this moment was a little warmth,,,,

sunshine,,,blue skies,,,marigolds....

Was that too much to ask for?....
given the opulence that continued to exist just outside of her atmospheric milieu ?
I mean, she WAS HUMAN, after all...
And yes,
she would trade DIAMONDS and GUCCI BAGS
for sandy beaches and coconut lotion ANY DAY...
And so...on this chilly, yet sunny morning....
she found herself sitting on a stoop in front of a Chase Bank...
(The bank had been destroyed during Hurricane Sandy...)
Oddly, this particular bank had been the ONLY thing on the block that had been hit....
and HIT HARD...
So as they were rebuilding it,,,,there was a makeshift stoop....
for the construction workers, she supposed...
And there she sat, remembering yesterday....
They had gone to the movies...TYLER PERRY....
She and "The Italian"...
She had felt like a teenager as he hugged and kissed and cuddled her...
It occurred to her now that the mandatory abstinence from CARBS over Passover had
REALLY PAID OFF....
She laughed out loud at the thought...
She laid her head back on the cold, sunny stoop...there in front of the Chase Bank...
and she fell asleep.....

Drama Drama Drama...

Where does the REAL DRAMA exist ?
The 'drama' that floats just BENEATH that which we PERCEIVE as drama ?
Is it housed in death and poverty and the undeniable loss of collagen in the skin  ?
or....
Does DRAMA sit quietly on the neighbor's doorstep ?
...waiting to pounce...
..waiting patiently to WREAK HAVOC...
Is there drama in BETRAYAL ?
in ILLNESS ?
in FOOD POISONING ?
What constitutes DRAMA ?

She found herself at somewhat of a crossroads...

Like the famous poem...
The road was forked ...
Which way should she turn ?
Which direction would be the most advantageous ?
The most CORRECT, if you will...
A crossroads of EVERYTHING...
Conscience,,,
Love,,,
History,,,,
Ans so...
She painted...
Because, in the end of the day, that's what she KNEW....
She painted a delicate, redheaded girl...
sitting at a window...
Interestingly, """coincidentally""",(yeah, right!)
 the bay window was shaped like a DIVIDE...
creating, yet again, the immortal sense of a FORK in the road...