Story (Jack Kerouac): "I have lots of things to teach you now; in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree on a cold winter day. It said that in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever ... Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world." These are the words of Jack Kerouac. If you were to think of your life as a story, a story with plots and sub-plots, one can think of life having a deeper plot, a kind of golden thread, which runs through our story, our reason for being here, an underlying deeper and more ultimate meaning. Without all the trappings of the illusory world, in this silence when we stop the buzzing, when we are still, we are alright.

Story Essence: In our true and ultimate reality we have the potential to awaken to feel deeply that we are really alright. We can find our deeper meaning, our golden thread, without the noise and distractions of this world. We are whole as we are. We do not need to be anything else. We just need to be still in the chaos.

Specific Action: Simply be with yourself. Continue to breathe. Focus on this breath. Breathe in, breathe out, gently. Drop into this moment. Don't judge, just be still and keep coming back to your breath. Good job! Keep notes on how you feel after being in the moment and focusing on your breath. Contemplate what your personal calling or deeper plot might be. Write down your ideas.

In our true essence of mind, everything is all right; things are as they should be. In becoming awakened to the potential to find the deeper plot of our lives, we come to realise a personal calling, a deep meaning. In this way, our difficulties seem to simply be part of the journey. Tomorrow we will look at our calling as something that requires us to reach out.

Part of a letter to his wife Edie Kerouac Parker found in The Portable Jack Kerouac.