island

Wednesday, December 07, 2005


Untouched Islands in the Universe

There was a moment
when I was 14 years old
on a boat to the Island of Cebu
in the Philippines
and it was early
so early everyone else was still asleep
I slipped out of my bed
in a cabin down in the lower levels of the boat
where passengers were sopposed to stay
during sleeping hours
and I found my way
down the tiny halls
up a ladder
passed the crewmen's quarters
and made my way to the deck
snuck past the hands
in the pilot house that were sleepily steering the boat
through the maze of tiny islands
scattered throughout the sea
and I made my way to the deserted bow.

I stood at the very front of ship
just before sunrise
felt the wind in my hair
as the sun began to rise and light up the tops of untouched islands
all I could see were mountaintops, trees
ocean for miles in every direction and the endless sky.
In that moment
all I knew was life, beauty and nature
completely untouched by the hand of man
the air I breathed was brilliantly clear and cool
I felt separate, unknown, untouched and completely whole
a moment of clarity unmatched
by any other I've ever experienced in my life.

There's no way to describe the exquisite freedom
of being at the bow of a boat
on the other side of the world
watching the sun come up
breathing the pure air
I was a part of everything
the breeze blew right through me
the sky and the water
did not stop where I began
there was no separation between myself
and the earth, the universe
I was one with all
yet completely alone, untouched
unscathed by the busy world around
and the constant rush of man and daily life
and all those things
that seam to matter
when you are deadset in the middle of a
noisy city
I was away, separate from anything I'd I ever known
and yet absolutely intouch
distinctively whole
a part of the universe and the beauty of all.

I've never fully left that moment.

There's times when I find
life gets so intense and money is tight
and the car won't start
and the bills keep pouring in
and all the people around are telling me
what I should do
where I should be
how to live my life
when not a single one of them knows what
it means to be truly free.
I take deep breath
and for a moment I leave
and suddenly I'm standing at the bow of a boat
on the verge of sunrise
with pure clean air in the wind that touches my skin
and runs like hands through my hair
and all my eyes can see
is the expanse of the ocean
and the beauty of trees and mountaintops
on untouched islands.

And suddenly I am connected
to everything that truly matters
completely alive, one with the universe
and separate from all the thorns and tangles of daily life
that can hold us back and tare us down
when we forget
that we have the ability
to rise above
and move beyond all of that
freely breathe
and truly
utterly live
one with all, completely whole
and simply be
authentically, absolutely Alive.
--
Charity