The Unexpected Journey

When you think you’re going to die, but don’t

NOTE: This piece was written four years ago…

Yesterday was a very off-the-grid day for me. It began as most of my days do here in San Miguel. I slept until I wasn’t tired. I meditated. Then I checked my email.

Upon noticing that the internet was down, I got the keys to my out-of-town neighbor’s apartment, let myself in, booted up my Mac, and logged onto a webinar I very much wanted to attend.

So far, so good. The sun was shining. Donald Trump was not yet President. And to my left, wrapped in silver foil, I saw something that looked like gum, so I opened it up and seeing that it wasn’t gum, but a small bar of chocolate, broke off two pieces and wolfed them down.

The webinar — all about the phenomenon of “collective narrative” — was surprisingly captivating — so instead of playing the role of passive webinar participant, I decided to accept the moderator’s invitation to enter comments in the chat box.

Photo by Aayush(gop) Rawat on Unsplash

“The world is an illusion, but you have to act as if it’s real,” I wrote, quoting Krishna.