Come Back Home for a Moment

Did you realise how if we're not careful, the hustle and bustle of life has a way of distracting us, wrapping us up so tightly in its web of never-ending, perceived demands that it causes us to lose sight of what's truly important? The day-to-day happenings can end up just melding together into a blur of nothingness, with later attempts to recall any significant events from those 'unconscious' periods returning an empty box, devoid of any meaningful memories or feelings and leaving us wondering “What the hell did I actually do last Thursday besides going to work?” We can get so tied up in a monotonous and repetitive cycle of routine activities that the whole reason for doing it all is forgotten and the entire purpose of our existence, to live, just disappears from our awareness completely.

Looking forward to the next trip abroad, the next weekend or even just getting home after a day's work, can leave us fast-forwarding from one thing to the next without fully appreciating the multitude of gifts that's right under our very noses. Excessive preoccupation with the next job that needs doing or how we're going to pay the upcoming round of bills can cause us to become burdened with unnecessary tension and worry, our incessant thinking locking us up as prisoners of our own minds and clouding our vision of the beauty dancing right in front of our eyes. Societal norms, pressures and expectations can lead us into becoming fixated on the pursuit of goals that may not even be in alignment with our core values, such that even if we succeed in achieving them, we're still left feeling deeply unsatisfied, as though some crucial ingredient or component of life remains amiss, spurring us on to the next pointless target in an infinite cycle of wasted time and energy.

Equally as problematic, our past experiences can leave us laden with guilt, regret and other unhelpful, negative emotions, painful memories and trauma being silently accumulated in the 'closet that shall not be mentioned' like unpaid debt, relentlessly building, lurking and waiting for any opportune moment to burst out and inflict damage on our lives and relationships like some kind of covert assassin creeping around in the dead of night whilst we're asleep. For those of us who do remain completely oblivious, the interest on this debt can leave us trapped in an unrelenting loop, forcing us to live out the same pain again and again without even realising what's actually going on, each time leaving a sour aftertaste of familiarity, strong enough to indicate some kind of long-term, unresolved issue, but still too faint to furnish any specific steps or direction to take in order to remediate it. There is of course, only one way to deal with these kinds of demons, and that is to acknowledge the existence of that closet, open its door, shine a light into its deepest, darkest corners and then strike up a conversation with what comes forth. The feelings that emerge during that process can be powerful though, and in order to make any true progress, they must be felt and experienced to the same level of fidelity in which they originally manifested, so how can we maintain balance throughout this process? Where can we return to in order to regain a sense of stability and find space to take a breath in between exploring the contents of that closet and making friends with what's inside?

There's a special place that exists where we can seek refuge from any pain and hurt we might be feeling, a place where any anxiety or unease fades away to nothing and a place where any grief or sadness we're carrying evaporates. It's a place offering shelter, giving us the chance to heal the wounds that we all inevitably collect as we attempt to successfully navigate the long and winding road we call life, and it's somewhere that not only leaves a light on for us, welcoming us back with open arms as though we're returning home any time we feel the need to visit, but somewhere we can choose to live on a permanent basis for most of our lives, only nipping out every now and again to run an errand or take care of some responsibilities before coming straight back. Miracles are a normality here, and despite their abundance, they never lose a single drop of their potency, with each subsequent one we encounter colouring our hearts with the same degree of captivation and reverence as the first time we sat on top of an eagle to watch that big ball of fire in the sky melt into the horizon, the first time we witnessed a pink moon breaking through a wall of clouds to cover the world in a blanket of silver or the first time we caught sight of a fairy dancing on top of a mountain, gently whispering her words of wisdom onto the breeze to be floated away and delivered to ears in faraway lands.

Everybody is invited to this place without exception. There're no entry requirements, and we can all get in free of charge, without the need for coupons or tickets. It doesn't matter what colour our skin is, what language we speak or where we're from, and whilst we're there, we're all equal, with money, status and power all dissolving into insignificance as we walk through the door. We can let our shoulders relax, we can unclench our jaws, we can release our heaviness and our baggage and just feel okay and safe. We're welcome to visit on our own, or we can bring friends and loved ones along with us to share the experience together, and the especially great thing about it is how incredibly easy it is to get there. There's no need to take a flight, catch a train or ride the bus. It's not necessary to renew your passport or book with a travel agent, and you don't even have to follow signposts, read a map or ask Big G for directions. It's always just around the corner, and you can find your way there instantly from absolutely anywhere at all, whether you're at home working away on the latest lightbulb to be born from your somewhat Promethean and nonconformist noggin, raiding your local supermarket for sweet, yellow-coloured fruit or out wandering the trails of a mystical place on the other side of the world, high above the clouds where the mountains meet the ocean and strange reptiles can be found doing push-ups in the sun.

Although some of you might be scratching your head wondering where this extraordinary location filled with awe wonder could possibly be, the truth is that you probably already know exactly where I'm talking about, and you've just forgotten, so let me give you a clue in that you will have almost certainly been there before, most likely many times. Let me point out that it's somewhere you'll always be able to go and that it can never be taken from you. Let me remind you that no matter what you're currently going through in life and regardless of the kind of challenges you might be facing, you'll always be able to find peace, respite and everything you could ever possibly need in the magical place that's right here, right now, in the present moment...