“SOMETHING MAGNIFICENT”
BY SHEB SCHEBELLA
The wind roars, the mighty trees bend and piles of snow fall free from their branches, like a mini avalanche above me, the canopy is closing in. There was not much of a trail to guide me before now even a less of one. Somewhere on my desk at home is a $400.00 GPS sitting there still in the box. There is no sun present to give hint of the time of day or what direction I am facing. The only thing I know for sure is that the wind is coming from the North West, so that will have to do. I am never truly lost in the forest, I only lack a complete understanding at times as to where it is I am actually in the woods. Hiking in the woods is much like life in general, one hopes there heading in the right direction but one can never be sure until they get there. Once a destination is fulfilled there is a sigh of relief but, the celebration is short lived; so we scribble them down into memoirs and through time we hope they will mature to a deeper understanding of ourselves and life, well this is what most of us hope for anyway. In truth I think we keep memoirs for those that keep memoirs is because when we sit alone in our own private thoughts whether they be good experiences or nightmarish events of the worst definable kind we can still find a cozy solstice in our private world. At least this is how it works for me and the precious few that have shared their thoughts with me. Yes the precious few, a small black book of friends and lovers drawn together in the beginning by some type of energy we can not define or ever saw coming. Yes, the mysteries of life and thank the gods for them and don’t spend all day trying to figure them all out or the magician just becomes another annoying schmuck in the 12 items or less checkout line. There’s something magnificent in being a little not sure, a little be bewildered, a little lost off the beaten trail, standing at the bow of a sailboat and seeing nothing but big blue and a horizon line and just as your heart begins to race a bit and your palms are a little more moist than usual, you notice something, something you have never seen before, a glimpse of something beautiful from within. You witness true magic, true love, true friendship, true self, and trust in something you never thought existed. You become witness to anomalies, miracles, events and moments you never could have dreamed about and a type of courage you never thought you had. Smile, smile till it hurts, until your eyes begin to ache from squinting and never feel obligated to explain yourself to anyone; and never let anyone dictate how you live, love and laugh…Get a little lost in yourself.