The world beneath the water’s surface sucked me in. I’d been wandering on land for too long; problems had started sticking to me like barnacles. I’d rushed through the years of my youth, smiling and bouncing. Then all at once, over the course of a couple years, I crashed, exhausted, into the hot sand and let the sun bake me back into the earth. The Island of the Gods welcomed me home. The incense burning on the temple’s steps blew into my nostrils and spirit came back to life.
The people of the water swam up to pull me under. I wasn’t afraid of them. My greatest fear used to be drowning in the ocean or floating away alone into the vastness of space. It was the loss of air that terrified me. The feeling that I was alone without any way of sustaining the life within me. Just one more breath would never be enough. But the ocean showed me how to relax in the face of death. Just let it hug you. The swimming folk taught me to slow down, slow down, slow down. To survive, you must slow down.
Slow down your thinking, your breathing, your heart rate, every little movements. To survive, you must be slower than you’ve ever been before. This will bring you into the endless depths of the present moment where birth and death belong, one in the same. From that point, the whole world opens up around you, for you. It sparkles. Magic returns to the universe and suddenly floating away into the deep blue is the most enticing proposition. Land has lost her hold on me. I flew free from gravity’s pull. I have slowed down so now every breath I take is a joyride, a thrill. Every breath I take is the moment I live for.
“Slow Down" 🎧 LISTEN on all streaming platforms:
Spotify • Apple Music • YouTube Music • Soundcloud
The cover art is a compilation of two images; a photograph of me freediving in Komodo National Park, Indonesia and a painting I created in Bali titled “Wonder” — part of my “Words in the Waves” series.
“Slow Down" 🎧 LISTEN on all streaming platforms:
Spotify • Apple Music • YouTube Music • Soundcloud