by Michael Maciel

See yourself in a compound, like a small village but one you can see in its entirety. You’re surrounded by the people and events of your daily life—family, co-workers, the schools you went to, the house you live in—everything that comprises “your life.”

See the colors, hear the sounds, watch the people as they walk around. If you can associate smells with the different things you see, do that too. Touch the surfaces. How do they feel? Involve as many senses as you can.

Since you’re visualizing this in your mind, there are no restrictions on time and space. Your elementary school might exist concurrently with the place where you work, different cities might exist as one city, childhood friends and partners you have had all live inside this world—the compound. This is your world as you experience it. 

See yourself fully in it now. Pay attention to the details and fill them in. Let each one come to life. Do this until you can look around and see everyone and everything as though they were real.

Next, let your awareness expand to the limits of the compound. See a wall surrounding it. The wall is about thirty feet high—very tall. And it prevents you from seeing anything except what is inside the compound. All you can see above the wall is sky. There is nothing to indicate that anything exists on the other side. The wall has been there so long that you’ve come to take it for granted, and you cannot remember ever having questioned its existence or what it might conceal.

Be with that. Let the feeling of it sink in.

You notice now for the first time that the wall has a staircase leading to the top. You wonder why you never noticed it before. The staircase is easily accessible, but you can tell by its appearance that it has never been used. Everything inside the compound now seems limited and self-involved. None of the other people in your compound have any interest in the wall whatsoever or in what lies beyond it. 

Now, move towards the staircase and stand there looking at the first step. You look back at the people and places inside the compound, seeing everything as one thing. Your entire life’s experience is summarized by what you see and feel in this moment.

As you begin climbing the stairs, everything in the compound grows increasingly remote. With each step, the air gets clearer and fresher. The sounds coming from the compound become fainter the higher up you go. The sky grows larger, the sun brighter.

When you reach the top of the wall, the surrounding countryside unfurls before you. What is it that you see? Are there mountains, rivers, lakes, other cities? Are there other people? Try to embrace the feeling that whatever it is you’re seeing has nothing to do with the compound you have just left behind. This is an entirely new world. The horizons here are distant and filled with possibility. It feels free and un-confined.

You notice that the wall is only one foot high on this side, an easy step into your new world. You look back at the compound and realize that it lies at the bottom of a large depression, separated only by distance and elevation. You also see that the new landscape completely surrounds it. And now there’s lots to explore all around you, behind as well as in front.

As you continue in your visualization, you can imagine whatever you want. You might see an information booth, or a friendly cafe with outdoor seating, perhaps someone inviting you to sit with them and answer your questions. There is nothing foreboding here, only lightness and ease and friendly faces. The sun shines brilliantly in the sky, and there is a soft, cool breeze. You feel like a welcome guest. 

Of course, you can always go back, and you will. But now that you know where this new land is, you can visit it at any time. And you should. There are no restrictions on how often you can return.

Find someone who is willing to talk with you and get to know them. Ask them questions. Ask them if it’s okay to visit with them again sometime, perhaps tomorrow. Maybe it will become a daily thing. And be sure to invite them to ask you questions. What will they ask you? Won’t that be exciting! 

When you see them again, maybe you could bring flowers or a picture you have drawn or a poem that you have written. Wouldn’t that be nice. Notice how your new friend reacts and what they have to say. Become familiar with their vibration and how they make you feel. What are they wearing? What color hair do they have? What color are their eyes? The more details you can discover, the better. Make the whole experience as real as you can.

Ask your new friend for a token, something that you can have that’s from here and that you can take with you when you leave to go back to your world on the other side of the wall. Put it in your pocket. Feel it with your fingers. Notice everything about it. And bring it with you when you return so that it can be recharged by the purity of the atmosphere of this place. 

When the time is right, say thank you, excuse yourself, and return to the wall. As you descend into your “normal” life, bring with you as much of the feeling and the impressions you received here. Let those radiate from you as you re-enter “your life.” You can maybe even bless the people and things in the compound, filling them with the energies you have brought back with you. The token in your pocket can be a reminder of what those energies are like. 

Then let go of the experience entirely. But don’t forget to go back! You’re sure to have new questions, and your new friend might have new questions for you.