Austin Behlke is not formally educated. She graduated from a rural school in Southeastern Arizona with the tune of “Shut up Austin!” still ringing in her ears. She had weird ideas and they were not appreciated by her almost entirely Mormon student body.
Like most people, Austin has been working almost non-stop since graduating; from waitressing at a diner, to working as a CNA, to training new-hires at a call center, to managing a department in a retail store, with quite a few other jobs thrown in the mix. Somehow in all that time she hasn’t become a millionaire.
Austin has been coping with life the best that she can for the past 29 years, growing with every passing year. She believes that we can learn a lot from other people’s experiences and so that is what compels her to share her own story and ideas about life.
I am Austin Behlke.
This is where I will be sharing parts of my life, and ideas that I have, hopefully all of which will be worth reading!
‘You’re Fuckin’ Alright, Eh?’ is a line borrowed from the movie Goon written by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg. It is one of the ways that my husband and I express our love for one another.
Jamais Vu (collaboration with Austin Behlke)
Luggage packed, vehicle loadedgoaded by the clocks visageprobability creeps as time is erodedcorrupting all sensibility. Sorted, scanned, and inspectedthen coached on etiquette brieflyanticipation in the window reflectedthe calming of a storm named hesitation.
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Horizon w/poet Austin Behlke
Where does the wind gowhen we so oft look awayto find solace in stillness? Perhaps to our dreamsto revive with nature’s breathour hopes for brighter futures.
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Space
When at last the ship didblast offeight souls were sentawaywhere they go so towe goto those distant stars faraboveon the backs and minds ofthe earth
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Living With a Chronic Illness
Living with a chronic illness is something that I am new to. I was diagnosed at the start of this year. Here’s how that happened. Forewarning, I discuss bodily functions in this post. Don’t read it, if that kind of thing makes you squeamish. About two weeks prior to my diagnosis I was bloated, gassy, and constipated which I had taken milk of magnesia to try and relieve. Constipation was not new to me. One day at work I felt abdominal cramping and when I went to the bathroom I found a substantial amount of bright red blood in my…
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Exist
Exist within the existential crises. Are you afraid of death, and the end to it all? I think that fear is a very reasonable response. We exist for such a tiny period of time and then we don’t. Death is a scary thing to come to terms with, even if you have beliefs in things like an afterlife. I have found myself crying for hours because of this thing that I cannot avoid. Death is inevitable. Logically I should put it out of my mind entirely since my thinking about it will only burden me mentally and physically which in…
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“Jealousy”
“Jealousy” is suspended art. Hanging from the ceiling, made up of a collection of objects that are placed in positions to create a larger picture. When you look at it from far away and from the correct angle, you can identify it as “Jealousy”, but when you get close to each piece that makes it up you don’t see “Jealousy” only the many pictures of memories and experiences, torn up, crumpled up, and arranged just so that have been curated over time. Funny enough, some of the art is made up of the same pictures. I have a gallery filled…
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I have a parasite…
I have a parasite. It originated in the depths of my gut, crawled up my spine, behind my brain and then enveloped it. It comes with a heavy heat, like the inside of a car in Phoenix, Arizona on a summer’s day. It is rooted in my psyche, but occasionally manifests physically. The heat is followed by a fog, and the mind is made obscure. Irritability and confusion kick in thereafter. All of this is happening while I am working, spending time with friends, doing chores, or attempting to binge watch a new show. I attempt to shake it off…
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Grow Gray With Me 