“The vanity of success invites its
own failure.”—Lao-Tzu
“Consider where you are at this very
moment. Think about it, and hold that thought.”
His lips are upturned, his eyes wide
and unfocused. He may have smoked or ingested something earlier,
possibly even both.
So yeah, I'm here in a room with this
guy and a bunch of other people. If they passed around the good
stuff, it never made it to me. But I'm thinking about it, like he
said, in case there's a quiz later.
“See yourself there.”
His voice is soft, almost ethereal. He
could be a smooth jazz deejay, taking us all on a trip to some inane
place filled with grating alto saxophones. He could be taking us
straight to hell, but we're not there yet, so I'm seeing myself in
this room with him and the others.
“Now imagine yourself floating from
that place.”
We paid money for this. It's not much
of a show, but people seem to love it. Younger woman to my right is
lost in the guy's words, eyes glazed over like fresh donuts. Same
with the other man to my left, though his donuts are a few days old.
Okay, we're floating. And maybe there's
a point to it all. Or maybe I missed the good stuff when they
passed it around earlier. Then the point would be to arrive on time.
We're supposed to be learning here, learning important lessons about
ourselves.
And if you think about it, showing up late and missing the
good stuff isn't the worst way to learn that particular lesson. I
mean, I'll be on time next time.
“Floating, floating...”
His voice slips into the clouds he
imagines us visiting, or the planets, or whatever. I won't be late
again.
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