zenithnightbane

[zenithnightbane]

“Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.”

— Max Ehrmann; Desiderata

[zenithnightbane]

TMI Tuesday!

Ask my characters anything, no matter how invasive! Ask for advice on any matter! Confess anything to them! Nothing is off-limits on TMI Tuesday! Practice good question karma! Send an ask to the person you reblog this from!

Anon in ON!

[zenithnightbane]

“The quieter you become the more you can hear.”

— Ram Dass

[zenithnightbane]

“A forest in autumn taught me the secret of all secrets. Complete surrender, death, and rebirth.”

— Anna de Noailles, tr. by Jethro Bithell, from Poems; “A Forest In Autumn,” (via violentwavesofemotion)

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Dear Passiflora,

Thank you for your beauty and medicine 💜

[zenithnightbane]

[zenithnightbane]

Finish the sentence in my inbox...

"I want you to...”

"I wish you would..."

“Why didn’t you tell me...”

“I wanted to tell you...”

“Have you ever...”

IC ONLY PLEASE! ANON IS ON! Feel free to send things even if we have never interacted before!

Practice good question/reblog karma! Ask a question to whomever you reblog this from! Get asked a question, return a question!

[zenithnightbane]

FFAF —

Does he have a plant that he isn't currently growing that he'd like to add to his garden?

“There is one rare orchid I’ve long admired, the Paphiopedilum rothschildianum, often called the Rothschild’s slipper orchid. It’s a demanding beauty, but notoriously difficult to cultivate outside of its native habitat. It's elegant, but stubborn and fragile, requiring precise care and an environment almost impossible to replicate. Yet, like many delicate things worth tending to, it calls to me. A symbol of elusive perfection and the quiet discipline I strive for in both my garden and my life.”

thanks @lilyofporcelain

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What inspired him to become a death doula? Was it something he stumbled into, or was his career choice a long term goal he always had in mind?

“It wasn’t something I set out to do. My path began with scalpel, clinical and removed. As a pathologist, I studied death in pieces. I charted it and named it, but then my husband Ladoran died.

He passed before I could reach him. There was no one there to sit with him, to hold him, or to honor his departure. That haunted me more than anything I ever found beneath my scalpel, it made the sterile nature of my work feel incomplete. I realized then that death isn’t just something to be studied, it’s something to be tended to and witnessed.

So no, it wasn’t a long-held ambition. It was a calling I didn’t hear until I had already lost too much. But now I can’t imagine turning away from it. Sitting with someone in their final hours is the most 'human' thing I’ve ever done with my life, and perhaps in doing so, I keep a part of him with me too.”

thanks @themadamelioness

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You have unusual eyes, were you born that way, or did something happen?

“Ah, yes, the eyes. They tend to draw questions, don’t they? I was born this way, though I admit they’ve often made people wonder if there’s some strange tale behind them. Sadly, or perhaps thankfully, no curses, no rituals, no tragic accidents. Just a peculiar stroke of fate. One might call it a defect but I’ve always preferred to think of it as a signature. Something unmistakably mine.”

thanks anon

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FFaF: Do you have someone you can sit and talk about your work with and how you feel about your connections with those that are dying?

“Not in the way most people mean. I’ve had some confidants that understood fragments. But to speak freely and fully about the weight of ushering a soul toward the veil, there are few who can hold that without flinching. So I’ve learned to carry it alone, mostly. I talk to the dying themselves more than the living about such things. They, at least, understand and sometimes that’s enough.”

thanks @nahisummerhold

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“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”

— Henri Bergson

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Free For All Friday!

Ask questions about their past or current events! Ask probing questions! Ask naughty questions! Tell them something you’ve always wanted to say! Ask for advice! No type of ask is off limits on Free For All Friday!

ANON IS ON! *Be sure to practice good question/reblog karma!*​

[zenithnightbane]

[zenithnightbane]

Anon day: Does he have any daily personal rituals that he never skips?

“I do, I like to begin and end each day in silence.

Every morning begins with meditation and yoga, often in the garden. Then I tend to my plants before departing my home for the day. There’s a discipline in caring for something so beautiful and sometimes so fragile or even cruel, it teaches you patience and respect.

I end the day with a cup of tea and honey from my own hive, and usually a good book. My rituals aren't just habit, they're my anchors, so I find them important to continue to practice daily."

ty anon

[zenithnightbane]

You who read me, are you sure you understand my language?

—Jorge Luis Borges, tr. by Anthony Kerrigan, "The Library of Babel", in Ficciones

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Are you into flings or one night stands?

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything like that. Not out of disdain, but my life has been full in other ways and I've grown selective about who I let in. Still, I wouldn’t mind it if it felt right. The right touch, the right moment, not everything has to last to be meaningful.

I don’t chase connection, but I don’t refuse it either. Sometimes even fleeting moments can echo, and there’s a certain poetry in letting something begin and end in the same breath, if it’s sincere.”

ty anon