Secret worlds swirling through my universe… The colors flash before my eyes and all I want to do is touch them, fingertips curling around imagination, inspiration, as if it’s a tangible thing. Discovering and selfishly exploring as though this world is just for me.

Am I crazy? Or did I just poison myself with these swirls of color, reaching out to touch them and suddenly becoming infected with a disease called addiction… but to what? Funny how such beauty can be perceived as so dangerous.

Mesmerized by the change in myself, and suddenly the swirls of emotion are taking over. Maybe I’m not outside of anything but myself, looking in at my soul being consumed by those colorful flames, and the mirror doesn’t lie.

The shadow flower’s inverted blooming tells me that I need sleep, rest. How exhausted I must be from all this stress. I reach out to touch it, watching in awe as it breaks apart into carbonation bubbles, flying away and leaving me behind, only to reassemble into another shadowy bubble design…. I watch in mesmerized awe, and the world thinks me insane.

Reality.

All that’s left is a 3-mile to-do list. Tasks and responsibilities are the only things that take flight in my mind these days.

Only I can maintain my passion. Only I can find those slices of color again. Hidden in my mind, I have to find my way through the labyrinth of chaos and distractions and re-discover my secret world, dragging myself kicking and screaming back to the colorful contented passion that I have known before, that I usually know.

Happiness happens in the mind. I know it’s in here somewhere, misplaced, lost like a set of car keys or my father’s coffee cup. It’s up to me to find it.