Let in More Air

Breathe – take an inhale and then let it out. Repeat. Repeat again. The simple act of breathing – a gift we receive the second we emerge wet and blue from our mother’s belly – the last sound we’ll make as we depart.

So let in more air…tons more. Let it percolate inside and brighten up your senses. Taste the heady scent of freshly cut grass and that deep purple flavor before the rain. Stop to breathe in the saline ocean breeze when all you want to do is run and kick up sand everywhere. Open the windows and open the doors, even if the doors lack screens and the bugs, eager with anticipation, will make a beeline for your home. Crack open the sunroof when you drive. Get some open space on the road in front of you and just go. Experience what’s in the air of all that you drive past. Breathe in the seafood restaurant, the warm arid rocks and dirt, the sweet complexity of the nursery you pass.

Get out on the front deck of the houseboat as you sail along. Don’t sit inside or out of the wind. Ride in front or on top if you can. Let in the crisp air that beats at your face and tangles your hair mercilessly. Let in the warm night air, carrying the sounds of hunting, leaping and foraging just beyond your window. Be out there when the sun rises just above the lake’s edge. Cast the first line out while the fish are still groggy. Let in the new air from this place and let out last night’s slumber.

Run as fast as you can and then jog a bit, feeling the air rush into your lungs way too fast. Feel it fill up the places that have been overgrown and dormant. Smell the man you love – let his air fill you and merge your breath with his. Muster the courage to breathe together and release your fear of not being enough. Drink in your babies – even if they are no longer babies. Be there when they wake and soak up the night’s air all around them. Let it bloom and caress your soul, and then save that place that can never diminish or grow stale with time.

Let in more air. Let in all the air that you can. But whatever you do, don’t hold your breath, for the majesty of air is as strong in it’s coming as in it’s passing.