Viva la Vida

Viva la VidaLong Live Life.Frida’s famous last brushstrokes.A woman with a life so full of tragedy and pain we couldn’t have blamed her if she crawled into the darkness, angry and alone, and stayed there.But she ran towards it. Transmuted it. Created some of the world’s greatest works of art with it.Visiting her home last week… I felt her.Even after her death her energy is all consuming. Fills your heart and your soul until it bursts. Tears streaming down your face.I stood in front of this painting. The watermelons.Viva la VidaAnd waves of gratitude, heartbreak, laughter, anguish… poetry washed over me.Time stood still as I stared and stared.And stared.Other visitors stepping around me.(Seeing me fighting back tears, probably wondering… “What is she going through?”.)I felt decades of my own grief transmuting into overwhelming joy.To be alive. To be here. To have the gift of a healthy body and wildly open heart ready to say yes, yes, YES to it all..“I want to live life to the fullest.”Yes, the fullest.And what is love without heartbreak.What is joy without grief.What is pleasure without pain.15 years ago stumbling down the shoreline of a clear Wisconsin lake gently rippling in the cool breeze…Barefoot. Beer in hand. The sun beginning to rise. Whispering drunken musings to a boy with bloodshot eyes.“I want to live life to the fullest.”I knew then what it would mean.And we crossed our hearts and hoped when it was our time to die…We had done it.Viva la Vida.All of it. Get full access to Hot Witch Universe at sadieolson.substack.com/subscribe