by T.L. Winters

Created on: January 20, 2009

I wasn't dizzy and I wasn't afraid. I SHOULD be but that particular emotion was so far removed from my body and soul...wait...my body? How could my body be way up here? I can feel the wind in my face but I can't feel my face. I feel my hands but I can't see them. I do not feel the pull of gravity. There is a gentle wave of the leaves of each tree as I pass over them. There is no sound coming from me...even as I know my mouth is forming questions.

I know where I'm going. I've been here before. I've been UP HERE before. I spread my arms out before me and even though I can't see them, I know that they are there. This must be what Superman feels like. I can go fast or slow, I can go up or down and from side to side. I can stop in mid-air and float effortlessly.

I remember the last time I did this...and the time before that. I am not a stranger to this place or thing, yet I do not understand how I am able to FLY. But I must hurry. I have only a short period of time until I feel the pull which will take me back to earth. The Earth that I now gaze down at in wonder and joy. I can fly so high that the Earth itself is in the distance and I can see the whole horizon. I can fly so low that the grasses gently graze my face as I slowly hover above them. I feel the warmth of the sun on my face even though it is always behind me. I feel the joy of the free.

Nothing ties me to the ground...to the past...or to the future. From this place, I make the decisions. I can continue to the horizon...follow it forever. I can aim up...way above the clouds where I will find the end and the beginning...the old and the new...the before and the after. Or I can go back down. I can allow the pull which will bring me back to the "now" that I left behind me. I can be by myself yet never alone. I can be alone...if I choose, yet never fear being by myself. I can return to my dream...or go to someone else's. I've made the choice before and apparently I get more chances. I am not an unwilling participant.

This ability is as natural as breathing. We all possess it. Some of us have forgotten and no longer feel the control of our own freedom. But some of us remember. Not between times...but during. Each time is a whole new wonder...a surprise. And by the time we decide to stay...it's time to go back. But how do you do that? We must remember to never forget. Keep the control and the ability in the farthest corner of our mind. And never say a word. Don't tell those who have forgotten. They cannot fathom it.

Reach again for the sky...I'll tell you how.

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