Two Other Senses

For the past few months, I've been relying less upon visual senses and more upon the other senses, especially sound and touch, to guide me. In part because I believe I am too reliant upon vision and therefore get too frustrated when I don't see something but also because I've noticed that my vision is starting to deteriorate. I need bifocals. It happens to a lot of men around my age and I shouldn't be alarmed or feel cause for concern. Yeah, but it's happening to me.
In any case, it raised my awareness of how I have been limiting myself to visual stimulation both physically and metaphysically. I decided that I would take steps to amend that and began to do a "slow blink" (blinking takes a fraction of a second, I started taking a second or so) and taking a moment to listen.
I noticed that I had been bombarded with auditory input but had just been ignoring it. That little voice in our heads that tells us things. Hokey Smokes! I was ignoring really good advice!
I also started verbalizing questions instead of just thinking them. My coworkers think I've completely lost my faculties. But I am hearing replies and it isn't me answering my own questions.
If Life gets so busy I cannot hear the things around, I just slow blink and refocus. It's amazing what I've been missing.
I have also learned that I have a pillow with really weird textures. I use it for my legs (my bed is uneven and this helps balance my spine) but it sometimes feels like there's something else in bed with me! No, just the pillow. More than once I've jumped out of bed or thrown my pillow across the room; in the middle of the night, one does not need one's heart rate to go from 60 to 600 in a millisecond.
I still am getting visual stimuli; but, now that I'm paying more attention to auditory and tactile input, I'm getting a broader spectrum of what's out there.
It's been an interesting journey.

Chinatown and Gold Coast

I wound up in Chinatown one afternoon. Something was calling me there and I wanted to browse a bit. I went to the shop I had in mind and was poking around here and there, trying to find what I had in mind. As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I saw the owner hunched over the counter, counting inventory and someone browsing in the back of the store. I headed first for the giant Buddha statue then to the beads, making my way towards the back. I adjusted my bag so I wouldn't knock anything over and saw some figurines that caught my eye. As I perused them, I started looking down the aisle at the other items. I realized that there was no one else in the shop besides me and the owner. I glanced from side to side and there was simply no one. I can't describe the person very well but I would challenge anyone to describe someone they saw turn the aisle in the grocery store. It was like that. I picked up the figurine that caught my eye and left.
I later wandered around the Gold Coast and stumbled upon a slough off of Lake Michigan where the city just melted away. It was an oasis of tranquility amid the hectic hubbub. I spent a few minutes (or longer?) there and soaked up some awesomeness. When I got up to leave I noticed a very large black shape like a cloak or skate leap from a nearby building and disappear behind another building. I kept my eyes open but never saw it again.

It's Creepy in the Dark

I decided I needed a relaxing day at the spa. Which, for me, equates to going to the gym and spending the entire session in the wet area (sauna, steam, pool, jacuzzi). There were remarkably few people there to contend with and I was able to 'be alone'. Getting lost in the moment, I was looking forward to just relaxing and letting my mind and body rejuvenate.
I was startled by how many ghostly images were lurking there. I realize that ghosts are everywhere and it should come as no shock to have them so close by. But when trying to 'be alone', to gather my thoughts and wits, it was nonetheless unsettling to perceive a ghostly shape stand up next to you when you're 'alone' in the sauna, for example.
I grumble when someone opens the steam room door wide enough for two people to enter at once, then holds the door open longer than necessary. The nature of the steam is to escape to cooler temperatures. But more recently I shake my head not because of their ignorance of thermodynamics but because of their ignorance of the spirits around them. How do people not notice these things? I see them holding the door open longer than necessary; do they not realize that they're holding the door for a ghost?
And showering with spirits? Not as much fun as it sounds.

Eye Spy Two

There are trees lining the street outside my house. I walk to the transit, I walk to the grocery store, I walk just about everywhere. I'm always grateful for the trees outside; they provide ample shade and protection from the elements. I sometimes talk to them and touch them.
I turn and check the street for oncoming traffic as I cross; it's one-way so I always give one last check just to be sure someone hasn't pulled out suddenly. It's really nothing more than a glance, letting movement catch my eye more than detail.
1) I see a figure in the boughs of a tree to my left, hanging, visible from the waist down. There are shady figures turning and walking away from the scene, away from me. I stop to get a better view and the shadowy figures fade away. Lastly, the legs/waist just absorb into the tree. The whole encounter lasts about 5 seconds, which is much longer than you might think.
2) I see a figure leaning against a tree to my right, watching me. He's dressed in slacks and a casual shirt, more modern than archaic. His arms are crossed and he's just watching as I cross diagonally, watching him watch me. He has dark hair and eyes, olive/brown skin, and an athletic build. I turn away but something makes me want to get a second look? I turn back and he's gone. There's no one on the sidewalk, no one running away, no one within 50 yards of the tree.

Beads Me

I was holding a mala I had ordered online. While I gently rubbed the worked beads between my fingers, I idly wondered where the beads had come from and who had worked on them? My mind wandered and I envisioned a group of elderly men and some younger boys sitting around talking and laughing. One boy in particular is soon going to join his father as an adult. It's not fully automated and it's not fully hand-made, somewhere between the two.
A few moments later I wake from my vision, uncertain if I've seen the way things were when my mala was made or if it was something older still. Or, heck, if I've even had a vision worth mentioning?
That little voice that warns us when we're about to do something stupid is getting louder and I'm listening more than ever. It's saved me several times in the past few weeks. If this keeps up, I might just have a conscience worth listening too!

Now With Wings

After a difficult break-up, I settled into a new apartment behind the police station. Over the two years that I was there, I was startled to discover first hand just how many pests lived in the city, both the crawling kind and the human kind.
One thing that I could never explain was the white moth. There was only one and I watched it fly into my closet. Since I had a wool coat and a tuxedo in that closet and assumed it would go for those clothes first, I was concerned that the moth was going to ruin some expensive clothes. I dashed across the room and began a frantic search for the moth but never found it. My clothes suffered no damage.
My next apartment was a few blocks away and more cramped than I realized when I had looked at the place. I had problems arranging things there and began the process of purging, though I never got very far. I also was without A/C for the first time in my life during one of the hottest summers in the city. Sweating profusely with window fans and screen doors open for any fresh air or breeze that might happen by, I saw a white moth flutter around the room and disappear towards the closet. Again. I went in search but never found it and nothing appeared to be worse for the experience.
After that, I moved in with a friend in a completely different area of town. One afternoon, I was carrying my lunch from the kitchen towards the front room to watch TV when I saw a white moth fly into my bedroom headed for my closet. I set my lunch down and went to investigate but already suspected that I would find nothing. When I did not, I went back to lunch. I was learning not to be overly concerned about this creature.
Now, I have moved in with two of my former roommate's friends (he moved to another city). I have seen a white moth three times now, twice after moving in and once today.
I did not bother to see where it flew off to.

Travellers

I was restless, trying to sleep. There were so many things going on at one time and I was trying to let each train of thought come to a rest so that I could rest.
I was struck with a profound sense of danger. Instantly I was awake; but, I was pretending to be asleep. My heart was pounding, I was beginning to sweat, and I was plotting an escape.
I had heard two voices approaching rapidly, as if being carried on a fast stream. They were distant at first but they quickly arrived at their destination: my bedroom. And something about them radiated danger.
I recall one of them asking the other when I was going to wake up.
"Oh, he's awake. He's been listening this whole time."
I was busted, which did little to avert my growing sense of dread. I was certain that they were here for me, but to what end?
"If he's awake, then we should go. He's probably heard too much already."
"Can't I give some advice or reassurance?"
"No, you know that!! I think you've said too much as it is. He's bound to figure out who you, at least, are!"
"Hey, you in the bed, remember to... just... don't give up."
"Ok, that's it. We're leaving."
"What?! I don't think I revealed any great mysteries?"
Their voices were already fading away. My pulse slowed and I hopped out of bed and looked for some sign of the intruders but there was none.
Sleep was now impossible as my mind raced with the potential of what those men intended and what they cryptic message they had said could mean. I did, eventually, drift off to sleep. But it was restless and nearly dreamless.