Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Below the level...dig deep.

I spent some time flipping through different sites today...I am finally done exams - for now - and so have time to kill before I go see the family for the holidays. Anyway, I digress, and return to my line of thought. While browsing people's blogs and thoughts, I came to see that most of them are just superficial, and most of them do not even amount to that. Yes, I know blogs are for rambles, for thoughts of tortured times...but damn, people, use the space to say what you really want to say. Have the fortitude to speak your mind and stretch the line past your usual blah-freaking-blah. Then there are those that I came across, and I felt my breath catch. I felt the power of words, of images, of creativity shatter the status quo...and made me smile with pride. They made me think and that usually means I go deep. Here you go, and may you enjoy.

There were so many images on the screen...photos of groomed trails and people getting their shred on. Old architect of expansive spines and peaks of history all caught and confined in the border of a photograph. But, it was the sunsets that really caught my eye. They stretched over the span of the horizon and refused to let you breathe again...countries and beaches I have never heard of before but that I now aspire to lay upon. To watch the sun spiral down below the ocean to find its own brief rest. Inspire me with your life, inspire me with what your eyes have seen, and just inspire me with the road you have chosen to walk with mucho gusto.

Then, another's words spread down the page in collected lines, allowing my mind to soar to another time, another place...another soul. Desire to collect lost moments, to refuse what seems to be, to shuffle feet so time slows for us all. To know that life is nothing but an hourglass that we can all easily flip right-side-up, and start the process of life anew. It is as easy as that, people, it really is.

To all who read this, I ask you to do something for me. Imagine in your mind that there is a closet. Open the door to this imagined place, not too quick nor too hasty, for who knows what may be inside. When the coast is clear and the dust settles, look inside and see what lays propped up in the corner. Do you see it? Do you see the shovel against the back wall? It is there, without rust, without wear...begging to be used for the first time; aspiring to be used for its one and only purpose.

Take the handles in your grasp and heft its weight to see that it is sound. See that it fits your hand like it was meant to be, and that it has a handgrip seemingly custom made for you and you alone. Note that it is featherlight and that it is of perfect balance. Now comes the real test.

If you squint in the dusty dark, you will see the back of the closet has a small hole...just perfect enough to fit your body into. Crawl in and start digging the rest of the way. Strike the shovel tip against soft soil and delve deep into your mind, your body, but most important of all...your soul. See the trail of bread crumbs leading back out and know you will never become lost as long as you have a well-planned exit.

This is the rabbit hole I have been down so many times, so many spirals of deep travels below surface thought, so many travels into the depths of my soul. It seems that everytime I come out, I have learned something new, I have some new insight, and that I only have to brush off loose dirt to be clean again. So, if you have the time, open the door to a new you, open the portal to a new destiny...just open your life to the universe that surrounds us all. You might just be surprised at what you find. Until we meet again, people, until we meet again.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
- Confuscious