boxed

longtime readers will know that my lovely girlfriend elle and i have spent the last 14 years sharing a body, which included a skull upon which one or another of our faces (but not both) can fit. well, the skull is still around even though the body isn't, so we still have to swap off if one of us wants to be a disembodied head instead of just a disemheaded face in a box.

and elle had a sudden lurch of desperation to get out of the box a couple days ago, which of course i was happy to say yes to.

(because i love her. so much!)

which means i'm currently riding that boxcar train along on a grand tour of the closet floor.

it's dark in here!

i mean, the closet's already dark most of the time, but you add on the extra cardboard light-blocking, and whoo, just plain pitch black. but that's totally okay!

if you think about it, we're all boxed in, one way or another. not too many completely free spirits out there unburdened by restrictions or barriers to their movements and interpersonal connections. some people have ritzier boxes than others, and bigger ones, and ones with windows or maybe a cool transparent dome. but each and every one of us is shut away from something.

in the dark about something (or if you're like me, lots of things!)

the thing is, though, even in a box, you're not completely all by yourself. you have your thoughts. you have your memories of other people. daydreams.

songs you can hum!

honestly a good song connects you straight through to whoever wrote it or sang it originally, so just by humming you bring a little bit of someone else into the box with you.

in my case, the box walls are also plenty thin enough for me to hear what's going on outside the box and even outside the closet. i've got plenty of people to talk to around here, and even if i can't see them through the box lid, i see them in my mind's eye. they're vivid. bright! all of them have the most joyous smiles.

so i don't mind being a little more restricted than normal.

my world is huge, even inside a box just bigger than my head.

next time you feel trapped in a box, shut off from someone or something you desire, my advice is, pay attention to what's in the box with you.

most likely, you'll be surprised how free you can be even trapped inside a box.

give it a try!