This I Believe

I was prepared for a trip, a journey. Training was complete and all preparations for my departure made. I was loaded and ready for departure, the only last task was bidding my dear ones farewell. I knew I had been promised to return very quickly, so I was more involved in going than saying farewell. From the depth of my concentration came the voices of my concerned family, wishing me a fair trip. When a tone of concern entered their voices, another voice joined to calm the unrest. This last voice announced it was time to go, and he sealed me into my vehicle.

A bright white light engulfed me immediately. It shone through me so that covering my face with my hands did not diminish it from my eyes. It was stinging and painful, then diminished. I could see the red of my blood through the flesh of my hands. After a time the color dulled to an orange glow. I had no sense of up, down. A floating sensation, bouyed by what I couldn’t fathom.

Starting to move, I could feel my own arms, legs, fingers. Then a confining limit to what had been total freedom of movement. Every now and then I had to press the space I had to be comfortable. Space was closing around me slowly, until I was not able to stretch at all. Then the squeezing started. This was not good. I was being shaped by the sqeezing space until I had no freedom to move at all. This continued against my will to move freely as before.

I was being moved to another place. I thought I would be done with my journey, as strange as it started. But I really liked the orange floating space. It was warm and I enjoyed floating upside down when I felt like it. Not to happen again, I feared. This was nothing like before. The squeezing was less forceful to one side, my body moved toward it without will. Slowly I saw that a familiar void came toward me, or I to it. It grew in size and I didn’t like it because it was cold and bright.

I believe I have memories just before conception, and memories of birth.