I've lived in the States my entire life.
Many years ago,
I lived in a small,
Peaceful,
And quiet suburb of Chicago,
Very much near a similarly quiet town where,
Once upon a time,
I grew up.
Both offered a tremendous sense of peace for me,
And I always felt wrapped in a warm blanket of community.
Each a place where you knew your neighbors,
And where they knew you.
Places where,
If you needed help,
Someone was there for you.
As safe and secure as that was,
There came a time for most of the kids growing up in my town when the mysteries of the big city beckoned,
Increasingly and more insistently.
I did not hear that call.
I did not get that memo.
The prospect of being in the midst of so much humanity made me sweat.
Until one year,
When the possibility of an exciting new experience called to me,
And I surrendered to it.
It was somehow made clear to me that it wanted to happen,
And that it wanted to happen to me.
What happened that summer caught me completely by surprise,
And I hope you'll join me in your mind's eye as I revisit it now.
In the comfort of a space that is sacred to you,
Please find a comfortable position,
Being mindful of your breathing as you begin to notice your in-breaths,
Your out-breaths,
And the space in between.
Close your eyes if that is comfortable for you,
And let's begin our journey.
Hold my hand as we leave this sacred space for another.
On the way,
We find ourselves walking down an old weathered sidewalk in a quiet neighborhood.
The afternoon sun is shining brightly,
And here and there,
We notice that some of the cracks in the sidewalk have surrendered to the emergence of new life,
As baby leaves on baby stems make their ascent towards the warmth of the sun.
We walk for what seems like hours,
Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city.
All the people,
So many people,
With whom our paths have never crossed,
But they seem somehow familiar to us.
Finally,
We find our destination on the right.
The sign on the door says,
Spacetime Flotation Center.
We have arrived.
As we walk into the building,
Everything is pure white,
But the lighting is dim.
We make our way to the reception area and let the manager know that we both have appointments for a float.
Is this your first time,
She asks.
We both confess that yes,
Yes it is.
And she asks,
Will you be floating together or in separate tanks?
Separate,
You say.
Well then,
Let me get you started,
The manager says,
Follow me.
She points to two changing rooms,
Letting us know that all we need to have on when we come back out are the white cotton robes that await us both.
I come back out first and the manager asks if I would prefer to start my float first or if I'd like her to get you started first.
I defer and the manager walks you to one of the float rooms.
On entering,
The light is very dim.
On your right,
Several chairs.
On your left,
A shower stall.
And straight ahead,
What looks like the biggest pure white clam that you have ever seen.
With a flick of a switch,
The clam opens up,
Revealing a large tub-like area filled with about six inches of water.
The manager tells you that what you don't see is the 1,
000 pounds of Epsom salts that are mixed in with the water,
Which is going to make it impossible for you not to float in it.
As you step in and lay down in the water,
You see that what the manager has said is in fact true.
You are floating.
And you notice as well that the water is neither hot nor cold,
But that it is the temperature of you.
When you are settled,
She closes down the clam,
And a few moments later,
All the lights dim to nothing.
It is pitch black,
There is no sound,
And you are effortlessly floating.
Over a speaker,
The manager says,
Your float is 60 minutes long.
Shortly before it's done,
I'll let you know.
So please enjoy,
You are in a safe and sacred space.
And you close your eyes,
Just like you are right now,
Floating in the pitch-dark silence.
At first,
You lie there with the chatter that runs incessantly through your head,
But over a few minutes,
In this totally serene environment where nothing is stimulating your senses,
The chatter seems to have become less.
Floating in the silence,
Time seems to be suspended,
And yet time does continue to pass,
And as it does,
You realize that you are not in a completely silent space.
You notice that there are two sounds,
Separate,
Distinct,
And regular,
Reverberating in the big clam.
One is your breath,
The other,
Your heartbeat.
Nothing else,
But it is enough,
And you are enough.
Weightless and completely relaxed,
It's time now to go deeper into this sacred adventure.
With no distractions,
It's time to ascend into limitless space,
A space illuminated only by the billions and billions of stars that now surround you.
Time to remember that you are in the universe,
And that the universe is in you.
Relax and enjoy as you travel farther and farther out,
Galaxy after galaxy.
There is no horizon,
Only an endless,
Silent beauty that wraps you up and envelops you in peace.
As you begin to come back from this epic journey,
Gently,
Mindfully,
Wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes,
Feeling your lifeblood coursing through your veins and your arteries.
Listen once again to your heartbeat,
Regular and strong.
Listen again to your breathing,
To the in-breaths,
The out-breaths,
And the spaces in between.
If you come from a region on the globe where you've experienced the cold of winter and the beauty of a fresh snowfall,
Do you remember as a child lying on your back in the fresh snow and making snow angels by sweeping your arms back and forth?
Do that now.
See your wings and listen to the waves they are now making as they gently splash onto the walls of the big,
White clam.
Surrender as the waves wash you all the way back to the shore.
And as we walk back together,
Still hand-in-hand,
Back to the sacred place you call home,
Remember to remember your visit to the stars.
They are in you now,
And you are in them.
It has always been so,
And always will be.
Until we meet again,
Deep bows of gratitude for this time we've spent together.
