Free, Floating
written by: Patricia Furstenberg
@PatFurstenberg
The act of floating is a delicate dance between the body and the mind. To float is to surrender oneself to the forces of nature, to relinquish control and let the waves carry you where they may.
As a young girl, I spent hours upon hours in my dreams, learning the art of floating. At first, I struggled to keep my head above the surface, my arms and legs flailing as though I fought against water’s resistance. But slowly, through trial and error, I discovered the secret to weightlessness.
It was all about finding the right balance. Too much tension and I sank like a stone. Too little, and I lost control, drifting aimlessly with the current of my dreams. But when I struck that perfect balance, when I relaxed into the dream and let it cradle me, I felt a sense of peace unlike any other.
As I grew older, I found that floating took on new meanings. It became a metaphor for life itself, conquering the forces beyond my control. But just as in my dream, I learned to navigate those forces, to find my equilibrium and stay afloat.
Sometimes, floating becomes a state of mind, a place where the mind can wander freely, unencumbered by the constraints of reality. In those moments, I’d find myself lost in thought, adrift in a sea of ideas and emotions.
But even in those moments of abstraction, there is always a tether that keeps me grounded. It might be a memory, a feeling, a person, or a place. Something that keeps me from drifting too far from shore.
In the end, perhaps that alone is the beauty of floating. It is a reminder that we are all connected, that we all share a common experience of being adrift in the world. But it is also a reminder that we can find our way, that we can keep our heads above water, even when the waves are high.
So let us all take a moment to float, to surrender ourselves to the ebb and flow of life. And let us trust that, even when we feel lost, we will find our way back to solid ground.
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