“Have you ever just taken a second to exist?” a figure pried. It was a frank question and I didn’t understand the premise. “You don’t look like you take much time to just be.” It was true that I had never taken the time to simply breathe, to simply live, but the question seemed so out there, that I was confused by it. Is it normal to just ask that out of the blue? Most of the time my concerns circle around school and friends. Nobody had ever taken the time to ask my personal quota of existence. “What is the meaning of your statement?” To talk to a stranger in the first place was odd, but to ask such a strange thing peaked my interest. Her reply came fast and with conviction “There is no meaning. Simply put though, I believe you are living incorrectly.” Living incorrectly? Stated that way seemed rude. Who was this person with enough nerve to tell me my life wasn’t right? Her face wasn’t clear, and her voice resembled no one recognizable in my life. Be her statement annoying, I didn’t have time for her. Yet, when I glanced at my watch, it didn’t tick. “Things like time are petty, and your watch won’t work here, so why not stay a while?” My concern had grown and I asked “Why is it that you know my thoughts before I speak them?” The figure turned away and pointed upward. Following her finger, I read my reflections in the sky. My conscience began questioning whether or not I was hallucinating, telling me that I should leave immediately. Those thoughts too appeared in the air. Reading my mind again she explains, “Unnecessary thoughts like fears and anxieties appear in the sky as clouds. They block out the sunlight for everyone, not just you, so be mindful.” I stared at the statements formulated by my mind, now printed in the atmosphere. “What is this place? I want to leave!” I had had enough. Games like this weren’t interesting, but bothersome. She began speaking again “You’re in a realm not filled by intrusions, you are free to just be. Why would one ever desire leave?” There were so many answers to that question. I’ll never graduate school. Oh God, the make-up work will pile on my desk should I stay here! “Clouds like that bring rain, and I haven’t got an umbrella, we should consider changing venues to calm you. Come on a trip with me.” My emotions had gotten the best of me and I grew tired. I didn’t understand this place and I certainly didn’t understand how to leave. Should I accompany her?
I apparently agreed, because seconds later I was elsewhere. An art museum? “Why are we here, what’s so special about such an ordinary place?” She ever so kindly replied saying “Your ignorance is terribly damning, please follow me with your heart and not your mind from now on.” Saying such a bold thing really was out of line. I was about to speak, but she suddenly stopped, “Look at this man.” Her finger pointed at a picture of Van Gogh. His profile sat prominently next to his famous painting The Starry Night. “Don’t you think he resembles someone characteristically speaking?” I began thinking of other painters, Picasso maybe? No they differ too much. Monet? No. However many painters I thought up, something about Van Gogh never quite mixed soundly. “Who is it?  I have gone through all the painters I know, and can’t find a connection.” She turned to me, “Have you tried yourself yet?” Once again, I didn’t understand this person. She said, “Van Gogh had a beautiful heart and it allowed him to create these magical pieces, but his head was his own poison.” The statement was fact, known as the “tortured genius”. He cut off his ear, and ate yellow paint to obtain happiness, his mind was poison. “Should he ever come here, the cities would have flooded with the rain produced by his thought clouds. Unnecessary thoughts ruin the genius don’t they? They only crowd the mind, and make existing impossible. Do you understand now?” I believe I do. I say, “The way I see it, the way I exist now, next time you see me I’ll be missing an ear.” She turned away again and said “Quite frankly yes, so take more time to exist.......”