Daria’s Voice

A Voice without a body said, “These times can be overwhelming. It can be hard to believe that anything matters, let alone that you matter. Your life has purpose, and you have a destiny. Our world seems broken for sure, but there’s another parallel story of awakening that is unfolding. Invitations to make a difference are everywhere. Seek them out. Speak truth and find people who are co-creating a future that you want to be part of. These people are considered the revolutionaries. They are young, artistic, entrepreneurial, wise, courageous, and they are our leaders. These people are on fire with the creativity to receive, renew, restore, refresh, regenerate, and re-enliven our world. How are you one of them?” “Does everyone have a question? Has everyone written something down?” asked Ms. Hanson. Daria’s question descended into her mind like a computer download. “What are you here to teach me?” She quickly decided that was good enough and wrote it on the paper she’d torn from her notebook. Ms. Hanson waited another minute for everyone to put their pencils down and stash the question away. Then she gave further instructions, “OK, everyone find a chair, a cushion, or the rug like we did last week. Get comfortable. We are going to sit for fifteen minutes or so. If you find your mind wandering, let it come back into focus, breathe, and ask the question again in your mind. Pay attention to sounds, colors, images, sensation, and possible answers. Let’s see what happens. Ready?” All the kids got settled. Daria took a sneak peek through one eye, scanned the room, and saw that everyone had their eyes closed. Somehow that relaxed her. Ms. Hanson then gave the instructions again, “Find your breath, ask the question in your mind, breathe, and allow an answer to come to you. Repeat this process as many times as you need.” The process started the same as before, breathing in and out, in and out. Then Daria silently asked, “What are you here to teach me?” Daria’s first thought was, “I think I’ll go to the first school dance with Teagan. Asking boys is not my thing. And no one is going to ask me anyway.” She realized her mind was wandering and tried again. “What are you here to teach me?” What seemed like seconds later, Daria found herself wondering whether there were cheerleaders at the soccer games. “Cheerleaders, really?” “One more time,” she said to herself. “What are you here to teach me?” There were sounds of people in the hallway, the sun was shining through the windows, and kids restlessly fidgeted in their chairs or on cushions. Then time stopped. Sounds moved into the distance. Quiet filled Daria like air in the forest. “All that you want to know.” “What? Did I just say that out loud or in my mind? Oh, please let me have said that in my mind.” “All that you want to know.” “Freak out!” She opened one eye to see if the whole class was looking at her. “Nope. Everyone is still meditating. Ms. Hanson is still in front. What’s happening? Hey, you, Voice, did you say something to me? Don’t answer, don’t answer. Besides, why would you want to teach me anything I want to know? I’m holding my breath. Oh my God I’m holding my breath.” It took what felt like forever for Daria to calm down. She tried really hard to breathe. Time didn’t seem to exist. Finally, she found the rhythm of her breath, in and out, in and out, in and out. Silence. “Because you are worthy,” said the bodiless Voice in her mind. “Holy crap! Really, are you sure?” asked Daria, surprising herself. “Yes.” Ms. Hanson’s words seemed to come from far away. “Now class, everyone come back and open your eyes.” Daria’s eyes flew open. A quick look around at her classmates helped her calm and reorient herself. Daria’s head was spinning and her body felt tight from sitting on the floor. Having a loud, booming Voice as her inner guidance couldn’t be OK. Everyone around her sounded excited but she was worried, even ashamed. She felt as helpless as a kite thrown to the ground by a sudden change of wind. “In this class, we are going to keep cultivating our relationship with our inner voice and our intuition. We are going to explore what the world could be like when people listen to their hearts, speak their truth with love, and act from a place of compassion.” Daria could see and hear Ms. Hanson talking but none of her words were sinking in. She wondered if she would throw up. Daria hurried out of class when the chimes rang and into the hallway, relieved to reach her locker. “Hey, how was that for you?” “Totally creepy!” Daria said aloud, still leaning into her locker, and then turned to see it was Teagan, not the Voice, who had asked that last question. She was seriously wondering if she could get a grip on herself. “Really?” asked Teagan. “It was a little strange for me too, I guess, but I like meditating. I felt the answer to my question inside my stomach and kinda saw some images. It was cool. I knew I got the right answer because suddenly my stomach felt calm.” “Are you ready to go to the lab for science class?” asked Gabriela. “I’m excited that we have access to it this week.” “Yeah, let’s go,” said Teagan. Daria was ready to go anywhere. The Earth Sciences lab was fine with her. All she cared about at that moment was hoping no one could read her mind or her face.