The Rift

My first encounter with The Rift was when I danced wildly across a stage in high school. I then encountered him while embarking on a journey alone to Colorado. I glimpsed him again while driving through the mountains into Tibet, and later in the red dust of Australia.

Then, something happened and I turned away from The Rift. He disappeared for quite a few years. I was disgusted with myself for letting him go out of sight but it gradually became easier to avoid the places I knew The Rift would be. I never went towards challenge, or fear, or anything new. I never went towards the things I was afraid of and neither did I move towards forgiveness. I new The Rift would be there.

I carried things, heavy things. They rolled around in my head and weighted my steps. I let them fill my mind with doubt and fear, anger and indecision. I let these things distort my thoughts, my marriage, my life.

You see, The Rift says things like, “Come fly with me,” “Let go of the past,” “Let go of your fear.” He is usually on the other side of a long dark tunnel or at the top of a precarious mountain path. He habitually looks wind swept and mystifying; his long coat flapping in the wind.

He never stays in one place very long but beckons from the high places.

His clothes which fit his sinewy body appropriately look as though the very dust which sticks to them is full of unspeakable adventure. What stands out most about The Rift, however, is his eyes. They are as clear and blue as a mountain lake and just as calm. They sparkle like a thousand diamonds in a single rock, and life glistens from their corners.

You see, The Rift lives in the space between. He dwells in the corridors of the unknown and the uncomfortable. He travels lightly and always moves quickly.

I recently met up with The Rift again. I spotted him when I first held my new born little boy. I glimpsed the corner of his long flowing coat slipping around the corner on the path just ahead. Then, I glimpsed even more of him when Michael and I lept into the world  of entrepreneurship. It was fascinating to see those diamond eyes again.

I saw him when we put our house up for sale and when I quit my job. I am seeing more and more of The Rift these days because I am choosing to jump more and more often.

The fascinating thing about The Rift is you never quite know where you will end up when traveling with him. But the journey, oh the journey is truly divine and a life lived without The Rift is a sad life to live.

Question: Have you met The Rift?