In meditation, they say you are supposed to “quiet the mind” in order to gain a connection with a higher consciousness. Quiet the mind? What does that mean? How does that feel? How can I shut up the everlasting voice inside me that keeps yapping away to stop at Target on the way home, do the laundry tonight, ooooh and catch that recorded episode of “Too Cute! Kittens” before it gets deleted from the DVR?
I may not be able to fully quiet my mind just yet… but I have found a wonderfully happy place in my very own home: the shower.
As I turn the faucet to scalding, and let the sticky-hot steam roll into the room, the complicated ritual begins. Everything has an order when it comes to shower time. Take off makeup, shampoo, condition and tie hair up in a knot while I shave, loofah, and scrub the heck outta my face. All of this happens on auto-pilot however, my mind is elsewhere. The nagging thoughts melt away and meditation or not, my mind opens up to infinity. I hover in a trance like state, my body separate, like a machine going through the motions. This must be that higher consciousness I keep hearing about! Yes, boyfriend, this is why I take so dang long. (Sorry fellow Greenies!! Guilty... I know.)
Some of my best ideas come in the shower. From my killer tofu stir fry recipe, to how to save the US Economy, to the most introspective moments looking deep into my muddled psyche… I cover it all. Last night’s topic: 2012
Dun Dun Duuuuunn!!
Spawned by a History Channel special that morning, my thoughts drift to the impending doom of humanity with visions of fire and brimstone, the four horsemen of the apocalypse sweep over the landscape casting a dark cloud of horror and despair. No, not really… my visions of 2012 encompass something entirely different. By now it’s common knowledge that the Mayans, the Hopi Indians, ancient Hindus scriptures, and many other cultures have all come to a conclusion that the world as we know it will undergo a great and possibly cataclysmic shift in the upcoming year. Take a look at recent human history and it seems like the darkest times have been falling upon us for centuries now. With everything in life, there is a cycle. The earth is no different, as evidenced by the hot and cold cycles over eons. (Don’t get me started on Global Warming! I’ll get to our current state in an entirely different post). Our planet makes one full rotation around its axis every 24 hours, we cycle around the Sun precisely once every 365 days. Humanity is no different. Before every sunrise there must be night. We as a species and collective consciousness are approaching the final minutes of our darkest hour, and before it can get better it probably will get juuuust a bit worse.
As a society we are entirely focused on the world around us. We see the countless wars in the Middle East and the unending violence and famine in Africa and we can’t help but hop on one of the myriad of social networking sites around put in our 2 cents for all to hear. But maybe that’s what’s wrong with us. We are living as voyeurs, focusing on what’s out there when perhaps we should be looking within. Many have already noticed that social networking is not very social at all. Sure, we talk to hundreds of people a day, but we do so in the isolation of our cubicles and homes. To truly become “social”, a collective mind and a collective soul with those around us, we must first look within ourselves. Wait… this sounds familiar you say? Why you are one smart cookie! We’re right back where we started, in the shower accessing that higher consciousness. Maybe if Mr. Gadaffi took a long hot shower and tuned into his higher frequencies he wouldn’t be blaming those pesky rebels for his problems and realize he’s just a douchey, evil dude. Or maybe not.
But anyways, when those planets align on December 21st 2012 and we experience a massive solar flare, or fall into a black hole, or whatever… my hope, my vision, is for those living on this lonely planet is to take a long hard look within, and maybe, since Twitter and Facebook will be down cuz you know, the world is ending… we can all go take a shower and come out with a new social and spiritual connectivity, ready to usher in a new age of enlightenment.
