Akira: Body and Soul

I have spent this trip battling the needs of my body, the demands of my mind, and the vibrations of my soul.

My body is in constant rebellion. I ache and battle my usual chronic ails, magnified ten-fold by the constant motion, new food, bad air and water, falls, etc. etc. etc. All my body desires is to sleep, to dream this trip away until it is gone. My limps weep for relaxation and my back trembles with the burden of my small satchel. My muscles are barely cooperative, working just enough to push my bones through the day and towards the nearest collapsing point.

My mind isn't much help. It whines and does all sorts of things I don't want to share on a public form and make myself appear less sane than I already do. It's mostly a muck of negativity and desperation, unhappiness and a strong want to go home. There are two parts pitched in heated war: the part that hopes to jump a flight home right this very moment and the angry, zealous part that only wishes to remain because I already spent the damn money.

In the end, reason has triumphed and I have stayed. I have continued to operate on the method of taking these days 10 minutes at a time. I work to reach the end of the time, then begin anew; as the time refills too does it always disappear. The notion helps stave the ails of my body and mind, providing comfort in a cold reality.

We are down to five days.

I tick them away.

My soul, in all of this, has peeked her head and had her moments and gained her necessary wisdom from this whole ordeal. I know, while my mind frets and my body dies, my soul is off gathering the flowers of wisdom, off in the fields with the wind in her hair. Here and there I have had time to glimpse the meticulous arrangements she is making, but it nary lasts long, what with the whining of the physical.

The final days in Athens will be my time to reflect on her masterpieces.

I will be invited to her gallery to fully experience all she crafted for me. I will devote my undivided attention to her handiwork and bask in it's beauty. I will catch her by the waist, twirl her, dine upon her language and listen. Finally, truly listen.

She's been waiting for me far too long.