Float

City serves society in multiple ways, and reflects the value humankind has given to the production of “plenty” and the convenience of choice at any time of day or night. In the years that Sal has lived she has learned that the value of things is greater when you know what things are important. Serious and ever seeking the gal is rarely relaxed! That makes it tough on her, and she knows it. Whatever can she do about it? Well, with the Harvest Moon bright in the evening sky, there’s really nothing to do about it except to accept her nature and step aside from it when things just get too worrisome. “Float gal,” her astrologer suggested when Sally asked for advice. “I’m no expert on the illness you suffer but it sure sounds like a Neptune thing to me. Moving from place to place like the tide and being sensitive to the environment. Your friends don’t know how to relate, so they disconnect? Well, if you can’t do anything about it you might as well float.”



The cool weather and cold drizzles dilute the pleasure of floating, still the advice had found entrance into the armor of our gal's armor of worry. Living with an illness that thrives on worry tends to take the Willy out of your Wonka. There really isn't a lot that can be done about losing touch with friends and family when they don't get the STAND BACK IF YOU'RE SCENTED mandate. I watch dear Sal when she slips on an unexpected sniff of toxin, see her weaken and lose her grip. Floating is easier when there's a ready supply of floating toys so I was glad to see her collect new tapes that take her away for a moment or thirty, music and voices to get her away for a little while. The internet connects Sal to a gaggle of friends who don't need to pass the sniff test, and it's here that our gal finds creative and innovative ways to float. There's a small and cherished home-made doll sitting in Sally's 'fortune corner'. She wears a tie-dyed shirt and a pair of tie-dyed shorts. The doll is cuddly, made of very soft cotton and has been a comforting friend for years. When Sally was at her lowest, someone very special made and sent "Minnie" to her. She has been loved ever since. Storytellers are always on the look-out for something juicy, something that whets the appetite for a tale. Today I watched as Sal escaped into the pages of the internet and found The Comfort Doll Project (click on it for a float), I looked over at Sal's "Minnie" while Sal floated up and down reading and viewing the beautifully heart-made creations. Here's where a storyteller can cross her eyes, and see the parallel universes that leap over the bridge called Serendipity.

One way to step out of the way of your own dear suffer'n self, is to step for a moment into the slippers of someone else.