A Flash

Have you ever sat somewhere and lost track of what, who, and where you are? As I slowly rocked like an pendulum in the wintery forest I got lost. Not lost in the missing type of sense, but lost within myself. Let me start from the beginning.

This morning I woke up early as I do most mornings. As I sipped my coffee, I planned out out my day. Running, hiking, shoveling the driveway, picking up Belle's toys outside, etc. I have been listening to several podcasts lately, but one in particular has caught my attention. During this podcast, the guest described as best as he could the benefits and possibilities of meditation. The concepts he spoke of really intrigued me. During my run this morning (8min @ 8:54 pace<--boom) somwehre between miles 4-6 I vanished. I do not remember this part of the run even though I know I did it and can see on my GPS that I did it. Reflecting on the run in the shower I thought of the podcast where the guest talked passionately about losing space and time when going into a trance-like state. This must explain what had happened to me. I was dumbfounded that I fell backwards into a type of meditation. As I contemplated what happened, I decided on my hike today I would set up my hammock and attempt to meditate for real.

A feel miles in I found a quiet area far off the trail. Belle and I had to all but crawl through about 2 feet of snow to arrive at the intended hammocking location. This area was dense but very near a main storm drain and was once covered in graffiti. Typically gangs and others will leave there mark hoping for immortality I suppose. What I found where this graffiti normally is was a wonderful piece of artwork that seemed to captivate me.

For some reason I felt drawn in by the power of the painting. Quietly I sat up my hammock and put my headphones on. I found my Pandora app that I rarely use and searched meditation music. I laid back and focused all of my attention for a few moments on the painting and the rhythmic sounds being emanated form my headphones. This was the part that things seemed to get weird.

 At some point during the next few minutes I lost track of everything. The sound of rain drops and running water swirled in my head and seemed to pull me down some type of stream. I looked up and there I was, looking directly back at myself. As I focused in on myself, my legs started to wobbling and melt as if they were becoming part of the rain storm in my brain. I watched as my whole body melted into the water and washed down stream. Something startled me awake and I sat up in my hammock. I am not sure what it was but somehow something rattled me back to live and to the present. I looked down at my phone and then to Belle. 30 minutes had passed by and I thought to myself, did what I just experience really happen?

I cannot begin to rationalize or even contemplate what the meaning of what I saw is, but I can tell you that the moment happened. It seemed like a flash, but it sure was powerful.