Somewhere for me, myself and I …

It’s been a while since I’ve checked out the WordPress Daily Posts.  So I decided to see what I’ve been missing.  Lo and behold, I found something really interesting; and inspiring:

“An extra room has magically been added to your home overnight.  The catch:  if you add more than three items to it, it disappears.  How do you use it?”

Now I know why my cats were restless last night.  Their sixth sense must have been kicking in like crazy.  What self-respecting cat wouldn’t be spooked by the sudden appearance of a room that hadn’t been there before, one that was just down the hall from mine, over there, on the left, beside the living room?

And I guess I wasn’t dreaming when I heard a door gently close.  It was ‘real’ enough for me to open my eyes, but my bedroom door was wide open, as it always is, so I just turned over and went back to sleep, without giving it a second thought.

Until this morning when I went to open my front door to get the newspaper.

There it was.  Another room.

Of course I gave my head a shake.  I thought I was still asleep, still dreaming.  Walking in my sleep, which I never do.  I even pinched myself.

Ouch!  That hurt.

“Guess I’m awake, after all”, was the best I could come up with.  Sundance and Bartlett (my 4-legged children) were as confused and disoriented as I was.  They looked from the room to each other, to me, back and forth, forth and back.  One, two, three times.  Then they just sat there, expectantly, waiting for me to make some sense of it.

Shrugging my shoulders I walked into the room.  What else could I do?

A relatively small room, it was empty, except for a few large, brightly-coloured, squishy, comfy pillows stacked in the corner; and some windows, which were open.  There was a lovely breeze in there.  I suppose that’s what slammed the door shut in the middle of the night.  No, I don’t know how or why the door was open this morning.  Not sure I really want to go there.

In all seriousness, though, it seems I now have an extra room.  And I know exactly what I’m going to do with it.

To be honest, I like it just the way it is.  Empty, except for the pillows.  That’s enough ’embellishment’ for me.  As long as I have something comfortable to sit or lounge on. Because my ass is way past the point of being willing to sit on cold, hard floors or benches.

Nothing else will be added.  At least in terms of 3-dimensional objects.  And because I won’t be adding anything, I’ll have no problem with the 3-item rule.

Decor’s done.

The instant I first laid eyes on the room, I saw it all very clearly.  What I’d use it for; and even why it’s here.  It’s a clean, pure, uncluttered, unencumbered space, with nothing in it, to distract me.

Perfect.

Sounds refreshing, doesn’t it?  I certainly think so.

My extra room.

Somewhere I can go to meditate.  To reduce stress.  To de-compress.  To be quiet.  To relax.  To be calm.  To become aware.  To awaken my creativity.  To awaken, period.  To become one with my consciousness.

So I will be filling the room with the sound of my breathing.  In and out.  In and out.  In and out.  Drowning out all the noise in my head.

My extra room.

Somewhere I can go to daydream.  To imagine.  To fantasize.  To picture myself elsewhere — in other places, situations and lives. To safely venture out of my comfort zone and see how far I’m willing to push myself.

So I will be filling the room with images of my hopes and dreams and adventures and even fears.

My extra room.

Somewhere I can go to remember.  To review.  To re-visit.  To take stock.  To re-live.  To be thankful.  And grateful.

So I will be filling the room with beautiful memories and accomplishments and ticked boxes.

My extra room.

Somewhere I can go to re-connect with my spirit, to nurture my soul.  To be present.  In the here and now.  Today.  This moment.

My extra room.

Do you want to know what the best part of it is?

It exists within all of us already.  The extra room.  We all have that place, inside ourselves.  We just have to be willing to unlock the door and go there.