Journey into Wellness - the beginning

As promised, here's a little bit of what I think might be the beginning of the book, Journeys into Wellness. I sure would appreciate any input into where this is going. Enjoy!

“I’ve had this same dream for almost three months. It’s not every night, but I probably have it at least once a week.” Allison pauses, almost looking for permission to continue speaking. Her friend, Margaret, gently holding a cup of tea, smiles briefly and lifts her steaming cup to her lips, taking a brief silent sip of the fragrant warmth.

“It’s always the same. I’m in a room, a familiar room that I’ve been in my whole life. It’s very dark, and I reach for the light switch, but I can’t find it. I’m left there in the dark, wondering where to turn, where to go, but I can’t see any way out of the dark. What do you think this means?” She turns to her friend, a small woman who has listened to her ramblings on her life for almost three weeks ever since they met waiting in line for coffee.

Margaret’s reply is brief. “What do you think this means?” She takes another sip as she smiles at the other woman across the distance of the small table in the coffee shop.

“I must be searching for something. That much is clear. The darkness is a symbol of something. Maybe my ignorance or my closed mind?”

“Do you feel like your mind is closed?”

“That’s the strange thing. I’m usually a pretty open-minded person. I mean, when I started feeling depressed, I knew I should probably find someone I could speak to in order to sort through my problem. And working with my counselor has definitely helped me get my life back on track. I’m not depressed nearly as much as I was after the separation. But I can’t help but feel like there’s something missing from my personal development. Do I sound crazy to you?”

“On the contrary, I think you sound incredibly sane.”

“I don’t know. Speaking with you has reminded me of the fact that there’s entire world’s out there that I know absolutely nothing about. Maybe since we’ve started hanging out I’ve felt like I want to,” she pauses here, searching for the right word to communicate her need, “grow, or start growing again.” Here she stops and looks awkwardly up from her mug of coffee into the sweetly smiling face of her friend.

“You realize, of course, that growth is rarely simple or painless.” Another silent sip of tea, another smile. “But most of the moments in life we remember are when we’ve grown or had a new experience because of our growth.

“I don’t want to live in the dark any more.” The determination is clear in her voice.

“What you seek is the switch to turn on the light in your life?” She asks, smiling a great big smile, using the language of her friend’s dream.

“Yes! That’s it! I want my life switched back on!” She leans close and lowers her voice. “Please, I don’t know why I think this, but I just get the feeling that you can help me do this. Can you,” she glances side to side as if the two women were collaborators in an intricate plot, “help me?”

“Yes.” Another sip from the chipped mug. “But the real question is, Are you ready to help yourself? Are you truly ready to reevaluate your life in honest terms that leave no room for self-denial and self-doubt? Only then will you be able to create the change you so desperately desire.”

The two women look deeply into one another’s eyes. The connection between the two was felt immediately when they met several weeks ago, but now it was clear that the connection had deepened.

“I’m ready,” she replies in a simple and heartfelt manner.

Her friend smiles at the echo in her life. How many times had she heard that exact simple statement from hundreds of people who had unconsciously sought her out over the years. These people all had found her friendship naturally. Within days, these people began reflecting on their lives, with her as the mirror for their reflection. More than a few of these friends had taken their lives to new levels of experience, of health, of happiness.

“Close your eyes.”

“It’s dark.” A nervous laugh.

“Picture your dream, the dream where you’re looking for your light switch.”

The dark instantly changed for the woman. It became not the pink darkness of light seeping through her eyelids but rather the darkness of her all-too-familiar dream. The darkness became real for her as she listened to the soothing voice of her friend.

“I’m there.”

“Good. You know where the light switch is. It’s just behind you, against the wall to your right. Reach for the wall and find the switch.”

In her mind, she reaches behind her for the switch and finds it on the wall.

“Found it. Should I turn it on?”

“You know what to do. Listen to your body. What does it tell you to do?”

The woman’s face changes, her forehead wrinkling with the introspection this task requires. “I’m turning the lights on.” Her friend raises one eyebrow as she notices this mention of light. There’s only one way to dispel the dark. She watched as her new friend’s face relaxed into an easy smile.

“What do you see?”

“There’s no room at all! As soon as I flipped the switch, the room disappeared. I see this beautiful view of rolling green hills, lush and alive with trees, flowers, and all kinds of life. It is the most peaceful place I’ve ever seen.”

She opens her eyes and looks at her friend with a new appreciation. “How did you do that?”

“I did nothing. It was you. You were always capable of finding that switch. Sometimes it just takes a little nudge in the right direction.”

“I’m sure I’ve never seen that place before, but it felt so right, like I was meant to be there.”

“You are meant to be there. We all are. We are meant to live in a state of peaceful happiness where we feel included, healthy, alive. Many of us spend our lives stuck in the dark, struggling to get free. Do you want to live in the dark now that you’ve been reminded of the light, of the life you can live?”

“Absolutely not. What can I do to stay here in the light?”

“Walk with me.”