lesson: the power of the mind

I was on stage with a performer. She was a magician of sorts and I was there to assist her in her act. I could not see the audience as the lights bearing down on the stage were so intensely bright, they curtained anything behind from view. I could, however, hear the audience and, because of the vast size of the stage and because they were quite vocal, I guessed that the audience was large. I felt no fear, rather I was intrigued by the woman's act. She threw a balloon in the air, toying with it for a moment, perhaps to establish that it was indeed the weight and buoyancy of a common balloon. She then batted the balloon to me. I went to bat it back, but at her command and just before it reached me, it stopped and floated straight up into the air. I could vaguely hear the crowd respond, although my attention was mostly on the occurrences onstage. I looked at the floor to see if there was something - an air vent, a camouflaged fan - that would have changed the course of the balloon so sharply. There was only an indent of someone's heel in the old wooden floor boards. The balloon descended and I caught it, felt it for a moment, and batted it back to the magician. I noticed that my arms felt very weak and that I was barely able to muster the strength to hit the balloon with enough force to send it to her. She put the balloon aside and produced a ball about the size of a basketball. Again, she toyed with the ball for a moment to communicate to the audience its weight and bouncing capacity. She threw the ball at me and, this time, I caught it. I attempted to throw it back, but, again, my arms felt as though they had no strength. Even raising the ball to prepare to throw it was extremely difficult. I lamely tossed the ball back in her direction. It bounced only a few feet in front of me and more or less rolled along the ground to her feet. She looked at me, scooped up the ball and again threw it to me. I caught it, awkwardly and with much effort, thrice feeling the utter weakness of my arms. I took a deep breath and concentrated. I thought that if I could only think it, if I could draw on my inner resources and use my mind to overcome this state, I would be able to throw the ball. I closed my eyes, focused on my rising strength, visualised it growing and saw my body powerful, and threw the ball. It shot past the magician, across the vast stage and off the other side. The magician spun around to face the ball, stretched her arms out in front of her and, using her mental energy, drew the ball back into her hands. The audience cheered and I was impressed by her ability. I realised that it was a lesson on how to use the power of your mind.

accidental tattoo

I noticed a skin irritation and wanted to investigate the cause. Could it be something around the house? I searched until I found a particular blanket that had recently been to the dry cleaners. Ah ha! A chemical. We decided to conduct a small experiment and isolated each of the chemicals used in the process of dry cleaning. We did a patch test on a small portion of my skin to see if there was a reaction to any of the substances. Upon contact with one of the chemicals, my skin erupted. An angry red rash appeared on my left wrist and flowered across the skin, covering my hand and the lower arm. Rather than calming, it then settled into a permanent colourful scar - a tattoo, complete with different coloured swirls and patterns. Though an admirable design, I was very disappointed as I did not want a tattoo, especially not one so prominent. I realised that I would have to wear long-sleeved shirts and such to hide the tattoo if attending formal events.

heaven

I was with two old friends and we had been looking for something for a long time. We had searched the flat plains of the landscape, and now we were climbing a seemingly immeasurable ladder, stretching up into the sky. The ladder was of an unusual structure in that it had three sides, much like the legs of a stool, so that the three of us could climb the ladder, roughly on the same height rung, at the same time. We had been climbing for such a long time - I cannot say how long ... days, weeks, even years. We were determinedly climbing, working as hard as we could, trying to reach the top. At the top, we imagined heaven. A wonderful place. Suddenly, one of us - I cannot recall who - stopped and asked just when we were going to reach the top. Hadn't we been climbing and searching forever? The knowledge came to us - perhaps one, perhaps all - that all we needed to do was to let go of the ladder. To be, not do. To have faith. We could see an endless drop below and the top seemed not so far away, and, yet, we let go. Immediately we rose quickly through the air - effortlessly. We reached the top without struggle and we climbed through the hole into the space beyond. We seemed to be in a vast office block of some sort. Old walls, filing cabinets and heavy metal doors. I ventured into a room where two people were working, dusting the furniture, their faces lined and mapped by their lives. Where is it, I asked them. Where is heaven? We thought it was here. Heaven is all around you, they answered, and at that moment, I saw the view from the window. A magnificent blue sky day. Sweeping green fields surrounded by voluptuous, undulating darker green hills. A body of water - perhaps a river, perhaps a sea - bright blue and shining. An orange tree bearing giant oranges bent over the water, its fruit ripe and ready to be eaten. Flowers blooming in pockets of the surrounds and animals playing. Some people were already out there and we went outside to join them and to explore. Upon stepping outside, the beauty of the landscape was magnified. The air buzzed with life, the gentle warmth of the summer sun kissed my skin, and the scents of earth, water, flowers and animals filled my nostrils. I wanted to go to the orange tree, so I headed out to the water. I stepped into the water, washing off the past, immersing myself in the wonderful cool. I looked around and could see the tree further down, around the bend. I climbed out of the water and walked along the damp sand. Thousands of ants crawled along one part of the sand and into the water making hundreds of tiny tracks. A fleeting thought crossed my mind: were there imperfections in heaven? But I brushed it away, walked carefully around the ants, and found the orange tree. There it was, an ancient tree, its trunk and limbs gnarled, reaching over the water. Huge, bright orange oranges hung heavy on the tree above the clear blue shallows of the water. I imagined how juicy, how delectable the fruit would be. I wanted to stay here forever. A big, happy dog bounded over, splashing in the water, tongue hanging out and hair flying, rushing to greet me.

seeking the answer

I was in a crowded place. Lots of people that I have known throughout my life were there, as well as many I have never known. It was night time and the crowd was both indoors - inside a vast building - and outdoors in the immediate surrounds. I had already been inside and I was now outside, searching for someone or something. Some of my old friends were sitting at long benches or in dark corners in twos and threes, talking with one another as though in private. I wandered through the grounds and saw more people talking meaningfully with one another, seemingly as though they were trying to find the answer to a question. Suddenly I saw that I still had a burning question that I have carried with me always and that some of these people were the people I looked to in earlier years to find the answer - and they were searching too. I hurried through the crowd, trying to find the key people I have respected deeply in my life, to see if they were here, to see if they knew. I passed old friends and acknowledged them, but didn't stop. Heading toward the stairs that led to the building, I bumped into a tall police officer - a woman who was at least six feet tall - who was walking with another tall police officer - a man of about six four. I joked with them for a moment, feeling so small yet quite confident in their presence, and then continued up the stairs. The male officer walked up the stairs too, to greet his wife who was coming downstairs. She was about my height and was holding a newborn baby. The officer bundled the baby in his big arms and we said goodbye. The crowd heading upstairs had come to a halt so I excused myself and climbed through, urgent to make it to the top of the stairs. There, I could see a group of people I had known in my childhood that I did not really want to spend time with now; I didn't feel comfortable with them or trust them. The leader of the group spied me and immediately starting chasing me. She was only playing, but I sensed a volatile undercurrent. I responded, however, as I hoped to humour her for a moment and then move on to find the people I had come to seek. She chased me into a part of the building that was a maze. I ran around the labyrinth, both trying to find my way and to lose her, confused by the mirrors and many doorways. Finally I found my way through and I set through the crowd once more, looking for my guides.