Jumped off my dresser trying to fly like Mighty Mouse. I still have the memory in my toes.
Chasing my brother. Putting my hand through the glass door. Lots of blood. Many stitches.
Picking up broken glass. Stuck a piece right down to the bone.
Broke my arm sled riding.
The day I got my cast off, rode into the curb and fell off my bike, compound fracture.
Some years ago I tallied up all of the knock-out concussions I have had. Six. I mentioned it to my sister and she said, “Did you count the trampoline?” “What trampoline?” So, I had flipped off a trampoline, sailed over everyone and landed on the gym floor. I remember the feeling in my toes that I was too far forward and I remember the bright flash of light.
Jumping down the stairs in the house. No one was home. First time; beautiful! Jumped, landed, rolled, stood up. Second time; jumped, woke up flat on my back. Still have segmented memory of seeing the 2nd floor ledge approaching.
Apparently Crazy Horse used to stare at the sun to get visions. I discovered that if you let the sun flow past your eyes it goes right to the back of your brain. My brother was walking by and asked me what I was doing. I told him, staring at the sun. He told me to stop so I did.
Tripped and fell onto some broken glass. Still have some in there.
Sliding down a dirt hill. Caught my foot under a root. Tore something in my knee.
Swinging on a grape vine. Vine broke. Woke up on my back.
Our neighbor, Mr. Smart, used to let us pour water down his driveway so we could slide on it. So long as we left two tracks ice free for his car. We would do spins and double spins and then land and slide. It was great till my toe caught and I landed on my teeth. Mom took me to the hospital.
Mix a brother with a toboggan, a three-wheeler and a rope and you get a broken wrist.
Classic ice slip. Tailbone.
Football helmet to the chest. Torn cartilage in sternum.
Jumped off a roof. Broke a rib.
Bad sprain playing basketball.
Very bad sprain next day. Playing basketball.
Diving for a frisbee and my friend was too. His head, my temple. When I woke, for a moment, everything was red and brown.
Playing football. Hit right between the eyes.
Don’t know what I did but it hurts all the time.
A large rock dropped on my finger. Broke it. Permanently disfigured the nail.
Left heel. Don’t know what I did. Constantly throbs. Worn.
Tore my ankle badly. Black and blue from the toes to the calf muscle. Didn’t walk for days, then, for recovery, learned how to move slower than the pain. If it hurt I was moving too fast. Took me 15-20 minutes to walk the 500 feet from the house to the studio. Luckily I didn’t have a life at this time. Helped to find my way down to the form of motion.
Torn meniscus. Surgery.
Load of steel slipped. Grabbed it and felt something tear in my bicep.
My elbow cracks, pops, squeaks and hurts all the time.
Picked up a fresh cut hickory log and the wood slipped out from the bark. Broken toe.
Torn labrum.
Torn labrum.
Gelled fire retardant shot into my eye.
Hernia. Had it fixed then discovered all the compensating my muscles had done.
Pulled a draw knife into the flesh just above my knee. Down to the bone.
“I come across the memories of these injuries often. They help me to an intimate understanding of how my body works and how I store, ignore, and carry injury and how I can release it.”
