A Travel Song

I have the good fortune of traveling north from Florida to the beautiful states of New York and Connecticut to do none other than share the passion I have for Qigong, natural living, and the organization that is bringing the transformative experiences that have improved my life to the world. The experience of travel is always one that makes my heart and mind swell with possibility and adventure.

As we took off and began our flight north to Charlotte, a faint glow from the coming sunrise was visible on the horizon. Settling into the dark and waiting, peeking out the window periodically, I finally saw a blazing orange glow hit my jeans, setting my legs ablaze with light. Leaning forward and looking out over the wing, beyond the wingtip and onto the horizon, the familiar awe-inspiring sight befell me. A sliver of dawning star crested the skyline, and all the clouds were glossed with a metallic rose hue, as lined by silver, themselves seemingly glowing from within.

It struck me in that moment the meaning of majesty. For truly here Mother Earth and the ever-expanding Universe that holds her displayed their full beauty; ancient, unadulterated glory.

And as we, below, go about our deeds of importance, our oh-so-critical duties, our power struggles, our consumption, frequently failing to be mindful of our place within the primitive cycles of the Earth and rotation within our solar system, majesty continues.

Ever-rising, the rays of the sun, soon released from the holds of the edge of the world, fell upon a velvet floor of cotton-white and rainbow pastels. Below, the blue sky would be hidden by these behemoths, but up here they blanketed our view like the floor of a royal palace, stretching out far and wide in the theatre of the heavens.

Later, after my brief layover had passed and we waited our turn on the runway, we inched forward, finally reaching a bend I looked out my window to find airplanes lined up one behind another as far back as the tarmac would allow. Like toy tin soldiers they waited, marching slowly forward. All different sizes, each, it seemed, with its own personality; tall, robust gentle giants; short and sleek; long needlers with pointy noses and tails stretching high above.

As we positioned for take off on the runway, joy filled me up. Just a simple smiling joy, feeling that this was their world, their daily reality. Ridden as faithful steeds by impassioned pilot-rangers.

One by one their fuselages zipped past my window as we picked up speed until, finally, we lifted into the air. Speckled on the ground dropping below us, cars of impossible shininess lined up. Blues and reds and golds and blacks with glints of sunlight reflected off chrome bumpers and door handles. I glanced outward over the slumbering brown landscape, following the spine of the beloved mountains as we again mingled with the clouds.

What a delicious moment of being present and aware. Gazing forward at the woman who had the aisle seat in the last row of business class, I was transported. She smiled, chatting casually with someone I could not see on the other side of the wall. Her tan tweed coat, long and fitted, her apple cheeks, broad nose and caramel skin wrapping almond eyes. I imagined she spoke with an accent as she elegantly tapped the sugar from its packet and into her coffee, folding the paper and setting it aside, and I was transported to European streets, cold and crisp and magical. In my minds-eye the landscapes and streetscapes laid out before me, and I felt them existing in the very same here and now. I was aware of the network of Oneness, not simply amongst people, but places, too. As if I could reach out and touch them, or breathe deep and dial in, existing in all places like alternative me's, on all roads simultaneously.

Here I find my old and familiar friend: Inspiration.