Once there was a land where the gravity was extra strong. I mean, it really pulled people down. Not politely, but without warning.
People would be going along with their day, feeling a little better than ok. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, this gravity would hit and pull them down hard.
And they’d have to fight with all their might to resist this force so as not to get pulled down too far and wind up in some awful unknown place they’d never be able to escape from.
Well, over time, the people got sick and tired of this gravity, for always interrupting their dinner dates and their good night’s sleep and all the other things they felt so inspired to do.
And so the people, heartbroken and frustrated, decided that this constant getting dragged down against their will had to stop.
“It’s become too big of a problem,” they all agreed. “We simply cannot allow this gravity to continue!”
“Down with gravity!” one man shouted. And everyone in all of the land cheered.
So, it was decided. A team of several energetic people got together, and rather quickly, came up with a concrete plan to defy this meddlesome gravity once and for all.
They created what became known as The Community Line. Which consisted of concrete poles threaded with suspension wires placed strategically all over the place. And with wires secured to harnesses around everyone’s waist, people were able to hook into these lines and defy gravity.
And it worked!
People woke up in the morning and they hooked themselves into the community line, and once they were secured, they went on with their day. And every time gravity tried pulling them down, they’d laugh defiantly, “Ha! Can’t pull me down now, can you?! Not today!”
But in time, some of the people developed another problem. Being hooked into the community line day in and day out was kind of boring.
And even though they could travel pretty far and even vacation to luxurious places on the community line, it always kind of felt like more of the same, predictable stuff.
And some people began to privately long for what life used to be like outside the community line.
And one day, one particularly bored and curious young woman decided to ask around and find out what exactly did exist outside of the community line.
Unfortunately, everyone she asked was more than a bit perturbed by her question.
“Who cares what’s out there! You should just be lucky to have a community line!”
“What’s out there, you ask? Only a reckless irresponsible person would dare find out.”
“If you’re foolhardy enough to unhook and get pulled down, don’t expect us to come rescue you!”
But the next morning, the girl’s curiosity got the best of her. And she did it. She simply had to find out for herself. So, she unhooked herself from the community line and began taking steps on her own.
Oh, was it exhilarating!
She decided to venture off the town paths and over to those parts she’d never heard about. And it was magnificent!
Off the path were dirt roads with bright green unmowed grasses on either side and giant trees and butterflies and birds and chipmunks…!
But right as she became so happy—skipping and even humming—gravity struck. And it began pulling her down.
She panicked at first. “Maybe I shouldn’t have unhooked from the community line. What if they were right and I get stuck down here and no one will know and no one will ever find me!”
But then she had an idea—maybe I should just see where the gravity takes me!
So she let the gravity pull her down. And down. And into what looked like a dark well. But the funny thing was, when she stopped resisting, she realized that gravity was actually trying to show her things.
There was sadness down there that she’d never felt and she was able to give it a hug.
There was anger down there and she asked it what was wrong and then listened to find out.
There was fear down there and she asked what was so scary and they fact-checked it together until they both realized it wasn’t actually scary at all.
But as she headed to the very bottom of where gravity pulled her, she suddenly noticed something… Something she was about to crash into!
And she braced herself for the worst kind of pain.
But then, something unexpected happened.
It was a spring! And once she landed, she immediately bounced right off the spring! Not in a violent or rough way, but in an oh so gentle and effortless way.
And there she was—defying gravity!
Soaring up up up past all those feelings and sensations until she was back where she was before—among the trees and flowers and birds, only they seemed even more miraculous!
“That was very strange,” the girl said out loud. “And fantastic!”
She decided to keep walking. But this time, she hoped gravity would pull her down again, because she was so curious what would happen next.
It took a little while, but sure enough, gravity came for her again.
Only this time, she didn’t resist at all!
She passed some sadness, but this time the sadness seemed so happy to see her that it gave her a hug!
Then she passed anger who perked right up when she asked how it was feeling.
And then she passed fear who was so happy to report that all those scary things had stayed not scary.
And then, she saw it—! The spring! And knowing she wasn’t going to crash, she waited for her toes to make contact and sure enough, she soared gently upwards upwards and upwards with the biggest smile on her face.
Once back in familiar territory, she decided she had to go tell everyone what happened. She had to let them know that they didn’t need to stay hooked up to the community lines to keep gravity from pulling them down. That gravity wasn’t a bad thing! It had important things to show us!
Oh, she couldn’t wait to tell everybody about the spring at the bottom of the well!
The young woman ran into town. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say she danced into town, so joyful to share her good news! Only, when she did, the people were a lot less receptive than she thought they’d be.
“Cutting yourself off from the community line? Are you that ignorant?”
“Not to mention arrogant!”
“If you breathe a word of this to my kids, I’ll have you arrested!”
“You know, a lot of people work their whole lives to maintain these community lines. Maybe you ought to show some gratitude!”
No matter how hard the young woman tried explaining what she’d discovered, the people refused to listen.
“It’s so strange,” the young woman thought. “No one wants to unhook to even consider that it could be true, the there’s this spring at the bottom of the well.”
And in her despair, gravity began to descend.
And she felt so disappointed, she didn’t even feel excited about seeing the spring anymore. So she just hooked herself back into the community line and went to the community park and sat down on a community bench.
“Maybe they’re right. Maybe it’s not so bad here. Why need to go mess things up.”
But then, she noticed a mom and her little kid in the distance… Not hooked up to the community line!
“What in the world?”
And so she unhooked herself and ran over to get a closer look.
“Hello?”
“Well, hello!” said the mother.
The young woman could see now that the woman was with her daughter who couldn’t have been more than 6.
“You’re unhooked?!”
Yeah, my daughter hates the hook. For years, she just screamed and cried and kept figuring out how to unhook herself. It was a daily battle. I even bought these special childproof locks, but then she got so depressed… The community line definitely wasn’t protecting her from any gravity, but no one understood. So finally, one day, I unhooked her. And I just sat and cried and cried, feeling like such a failure. And my daughter rubbed my arm and said, “That’s good mommy. Crying is good.”
And I said, “It is?”
And she said, “Yes! That’s how you get to the spring at the bottom of the well!”
The young women had shivers hearing this story.
“So… you’ve been to the spring?”
“Oh yes, ever since my daughter showed me how to get there, we go often. It’s changed my life.“
“You’ve been to the spring?” the little girl asked the young woman, with such curious big brown eyes.
“Yes! I have!”
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
“It is,” the young woman agreed.
“You know,” the little girl said. “Most people think that gravity pulls you down, but really that’s just how gravity sends you an invitation to the only place that can send you soaring higher than you’ve ever been!!”
“You’re pretty smart!” said the young woman.
“Thank you!”
“But I told so many people about the spring, and no one cares.”
“I understand,” said the mother. “My daughter tells people about it everyday and they just smile and laugh. It’s an odd thing. But I stopped trying to get anyone to care. Not everyone needs to unhook from the community line and go to the spring, you know. But it’s available to anyone who wants to take the journey.”
And from that moment on, the young woman visited the spring every day. And she didn’t need to convince anyone to take off their harness and unhook from the community line.
There was nothing wrong with the community line. It served an important purpose. Even for her. But so did the spring at the bottom of the well. And she felt grateful to be able to visit. And grateful to bring some of that spring back with her to share with anyone who might need it.
-JLK
