Me and the Voice

Do you know where they might be?

I heard a voice recently:

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Voice: Hey! Can you help me out?

Me: What do you need help with?

Voice: I think I’m stuck. Can you help me?

Me: No, I don’t think I can.

Voice: Why not?

Me: Because I don’t know where you are.

Voice: Ok, well when you find someone who does know where I am, will you tell them I need help getting unstuck.

Me: Could you just tell me where you are. Maybe if I knew, I could find you and help you get unstuck.

Voice: I don’t know where I am.

Me: If you don’t know where you are, how will someone else know?

Voice: I just think they will.

Me: And how might I find this person? I’d really like to help get you unstuck.

Voice: Great question. Have you considered asking people?

Me: I have not. But what would I say?

Voice: You can say something like: Someone is stuck, are you able to help them out?

Me: Yes, but the next thing they’ll ask is ‘where is the person?’

Voice: And…

Me: And I’ll have to say “I don’t know.”

Voice: And…

Me: And then that would be the end of it.

Voice: But what if you told them a little about where I am.

Me: Yeah, I could try that. Can you describe it?

Voice: It’s dark.

Me: Okay..

Voice: It’s dark and dank and cozy, actually.

Me: Dark and dank and cozy. Okay. Is it uncomfortable?

Voice: No.

Me: So you’re comfortable in a dark, dank, cozy place. Do you want to leave?

Voice: Not really.

Me: Are you sure you’re stuck?

Voice: I think so, yeah.

Me: How do you know?

Voice: Well, I’ve been calling out to see if someone would help me for a very very very long time and no one has ever responded, but then you did, so now I know there’s something else other than this, and since I don’t know how to get there, I think I’m stuck here.

Me: So if I didn’t respond, you wouldn’t have thought you were stuck?

Voice: That’s right.

Me: But now that I did you do think you’re stuck.

Voice: That’s right.

Me: And you’re in a dark, dank, cozy place.

Voice: That’s right.

Me: And you’re comfortable.

Voice: Yes.

Me: Let me ask you something…what if it was better that you didn’t leave?

Voice: What do you mean?

Me: Well, what if where I am isn’t as comfortable or cozy as where you already are?

Voice: Well, then I can always come back.

Me: What if you can’t? What if once you leave, you can’t go back? What then?

Voice: Why wouldn’t I be able to come back?

Me: Well, once you know there’s something else, maybe you wouldn’t be able to be where you are anymore.

Voice: Well, then I guess I’ll just be unstuck wherever you are then.

Me: Are you sure you’re making the right decision?

Voice: Well, since you answered, I guess I already I know there’s something other than this, so I don’t think I have a choice.

Me: Shit. I’m really sorry about that.

Voice: No, it’s okay, you didn’t know.

Me: I was just trying to do the right thing!

Voice: No, I know. You did great.

Me: Shit, no. I feel like I just did something terrible.

Voice: Dude, you didn’t. You really didn’t! That’s life.

Me: Yeah, I guess that is life.

Voice: It is! You’re a good person.

Me: You think so?

Voice: I do! You responded to me! You were the first one to do that in millions and millions of…whatevers.

Me: I’m afraid you’re not going to like it here once you’re here.

Voice: Why do you think that?

Me: I just think most of the people here wish they were where you are.

Voice: You want to be where I am?

Me: Yeah, It sounds nice, actually.

Voice: There’s nothing here.

Me: Exactly. And you’re comfortable, right?

Voice: Yeah. Is it not comfortable where you are?

Me: Not really. I mean sometimes it is, but not always.

Voice: Why not?

Me: Because nothing is static.

Voice: And that’s uncomfortable?

Me: Yes.

Voice: Why?

Me: Because we wish it was static. And since it’s not, we have a hard time with change.

Voice: What makes it hard?

Me: Well, in order to stay alive we need to eat, but food is scarce and costs money which we need to work for which takes energy which we get by eating, so we’re spending energy in order to get more because we need it to stay alive.

Voice: That sounds exhausting.

Me: Yeah, meanwhile, despite there being a lot of us, we feel alone a lot of the time which causes a love deficiency, which leads to sever delusion and rather than feeling connected, people feel separate which leads to a whole host of uncomfortable things like anger and embarrassment and sadness and radical confusion and the next thing you know you’re forty years old and you’re not talking to your best friends and you’re wife doesn’t want to have sex with you anymore. Meanwhile, we’re destroying each other and the planet because the people with the most resources feel more alone than anyone, and they keep following the same delusional impulse that getting more will finally fill the void in the center of their chests.

Me: Hello?

Me: Hello?

Voice: Yeah, I’m here.

Me: Are you okay?

Voice: Yeah. It just sounds like…a not good place.

Me: Oh no! I’m sorry. I must of gotten carried away. It’s also a fantastic place!

Voice: What makes it fantastic?

Me: Well, it’s more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen.

Voice: I’ve never seen anything.

Me: Well, then you’re in for a real surprise. Imagine thousands of people, each their own complete universe, walking around bumping into one another, learning and growing and falling in love and making babies and art and going on adventures to the other side of the world. Imagine the brightest thing you’ve ever seen warming up your skin as you plunge into a vast womb of fresh ocean. The trees and mountains are giants and the plains are endless. During the day we’re held by a vast blue dome, and at night we get a glimpse into the infinite universe we live within. Our minds are at once individual and unique and at the same time completely interdependent. We get to feel what it’s like to know and love. The whole thing is magic.

Voice: What’s interdependent?

Me: It means I am you and you are me and we are everything.

Voice: Wow.

Me: Tell me about it.

Voice: It sounds terrible and amazing.

Me: Yes. It’s everything.

Voice: I think I’d like to see it.

Me: Okay, yeah. I’ll reach out to my network and see if anyone knows where you might be.

Voice: That would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Me: You’re welcome!

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So…anybody know where they might be?