The Phoenix

The phoenix--a brilliant bird in red gold feathers . A bird that lives its long life, then dives into the flames and rises again from the ashes of its own death.

The phoenix has always been a very symbolic myth for my own life. I feel as if I have lived 100 years in a short span of time and have recreated myself again and again from the ashes of my previous life. Sometimes I feel like I am diving to Sampati's fire--as if those hot flames are drawing me in to flash me to ashes and recreate myself. Other times, I feel as if I am rising triumphant, already metamorphed from the aged and ragged to the new, re-born.

I love the image of an enormous red-gold bird, flying over the world, free. I like the image of rebirth from ashes, renewal. The phoenix is my image for the adventure I'm about to embark upon.