Are you ready to meditate with Cori?
Make sure that you're lying down in your bed and you're in a position that you can deeply relax in.
Make sure that you're as comfortable as possible as you listen to the story.
I press the button on the side of my chair and slowly recline as far as it will go.
I stare out at the small round window that's to my right.
If I didn't know it,
I wouldn't think I was flying on the craft right now.
The ride is smooth and very silent.
The chair that I'm sat in is soft and comfortable.
It's been a really long day and the sun is going down.
I can see it through the window.
There's a purpley,
Orangey,
Pinky hue in the sky that feels as if it's like a warm,
Soft blanket just floating out there on its own.
My eyelids are heavy.
My eyes feel dry.
I use my right foot to kick off my left shoe and then do the same with my left foot on my right shoe.
And I whittle my toes in my socks,
Extending them out as if I'm stretching them,
Enjoying the space and the freedom that my feet can now feel without my shoes constricting them.
I go back to staring out at the window and let my eyes start to get heavier and heavier.
I want to try and get a couple of hours of sleep as it's going to be busy when we get to our destination.
I pull on the neck on my T-shirt and stretch it.
It felt like it was tight around my neck.
I don't want to feel constricted in any way.
I check in with the rest of my body and feel happy enough to close down my eyes.
The muscle underneath my eye on the right side keeps twitching and then eventually it stops.
I soften my jaw.
Didn't realize how much I was clenching.
The skin around my eyes and across my forehead feels as if it's melting.
And I enjoy the sensation,
Imagining in my mind that everything's slipping off my face and down onto my shoulders,
Weighing my shoulders down so that my shoulders fall and melt into the chair.
What if my whole body was that relaxed?
It felt like it was melting,
Like an ice cube in a glass of water on a hot day.
Without realizing I mentally agree somewhere out there in the universe to surrender,
Completely surrender and let go of all control in my body.
It doesn't take too long before I start to feel as if I'm floating.
The sensation feels strange at first and there's a part of my brain that resists it as if I'm falling really fast from a skyscraper.
I stop with a sudden jerk a few times before I finally let go completely.
I start to dream as if I'm a leaf.
How uncomplicated it would be to be a leaf just flowing and falling in the breeze on an autumn day,
Along with hundreds of other leaves doing the same thing.
In that moment of being a leaf in the wind,
Life is so uncomplicated.
My body feels as if it doesn't weigh anything.
I like the sensation,
Even though I'm not conscious enough to realize I like it,
But I don't push it away.
I just am the leaf.
It doesn't feel very long at all before a siren goes off on the craft and I'm awake once again.
The first thing I do is stare out of the small round window to my right.
I see that it's a lot lighter.
I slept through the whole night and didn't feel anything.
I start to move my body around,
Knowing that I have to get conscious enough to wake up and get the job done.
There's an announcement that we've got five minutes before we go to work.
I stretch my arms up towards the ceiling and push my legs out to extend them as far as they'll go.
I lean forward and put my work boots back on.
I make sure that they're tight and secure.
And then I press the small round button on the inside of each boot.
It goes from red to green.
That's what I want to see.
On the pocket on my T-shirt,
There's a small round disc.
I take it out and place it underneath my tongue.
It fizzes and melts and I get a burst of energy instantly.
First,
It rushes through my face and to the top of my head.
And then,
Like a bolt of lightning,
It sends a shiver all the way down my spine.
The hairs on my body stand up and I feel completely awake.
Standing up,
I walk towards the door on the craft.
I press a button on the left and the door opens.
Instantly,
There's a strong gust of air and fresh,
Clean oxygen that hits my body with some force.
But I'm used to it.
This is what I've been trained for.
I count to three and step out onto the clouds.
My boots let me do this.
Grav boots,
They call them.
I start to stomp on top of the clouds.
To see me,
You would think I was just some kind of strange giant.
Walking on the clouds as if I was walking on top of snow.
Crunching into the surface,
Feeling that slight dip.
But then,
It stops and I don't fall through the clouds.
I'm a cloud walker.
I walk on top of the clouds.
It's one of those jobs that's a lonely job,
But I love it.
It's my life and it gives me purpose.
Because I'm the only one there,
I'm the only one who knows what this job entails.
I'm the only one that knows what I'm looking for.
I reach down into my trouser pocket and take out a pair of special goggles that I need.
I put them over my head.
And tap lightly on the right side of one.
And the light changes,
My vision changes.
And there,
Just like that,
I can see them.
They look like small,
Gray,
Sparkling puffs of air.
Sparkling puffs of air.
That's the only way I could describe them.
Like it's a cold day and you breathe out and you can see your breath there in front of your face.
You only see them because they're the gray,
Silver,
Sparkling,
And everything else around me seems to be just white like a cloud.
There is many of them today.
Maybe 20 or so.
I go over to the closest one.
Before I say anything,
I check up above me.
When I look up,
I see it.
It looks as if it's like a portal in the sky.
Big,
Round,
Bright beam of light.
You wouldn't see it if you didn't have these goggles on.
But I do,
And I see it.
And I know the light well.
I communicate with the gray puff of air.
At first,
It's apprehensive.
And then it feels my heart.
It feels the light inside of me.
And without question,
It knows I'm telling the truth.
I couldn't tell you what I say to the gray.
They're all so different.
Each one of them needs something different from me.
Each one of them lost for a different reason.
They're lost souls,
You see.
They're here in the clouds.
And they're stuck waiting for someone like me to help them to get to the light.
That's my job.
That's what I do.
The gray there in front of me starts to transcend.
Slowly at first,
But then,
Within seconds,
It shoots up towards the light as if it's been sucked up some kind of shaft,
Invisibly transported back to source.
I go to the next one,
And then the next one,
And then the next,
Until I'm completely done.
With the aid of my boots,
I make my way safely back to the craft.
I get back on board and return back to my seat.
I'm full,
Energized,
But I find myself exhausted once again,
Leaning back into the chair,
Kicking off my boots,
Softening,
Surrendering once again into sleep until the next time I'm needed.
The end.