A rough sketch I made of “The Inspector”

I’m floating in a psychedelic sea of lines, snaking and spilling over themselves like an ever-cascading ocean of consciousness. Shades of black, charcoal, and deep purple engulf all that is visible, and I feel myself melting into this strange ever-shifting material. It feels immensely comfortable and warm here yet also mysterious and divine. It’s a realm where one can’t help but question their existence, whether the ego, the self, the soul & body — -all that is ‘I’ in this place — -whether ‘I’ am good enough. And it was as soon as I begun this line of questioning, of self reflection and contemplation, that I felt something powerful coming from within and from the very realm itself. A presence of sorts, and I knew in that moment that I was not alone.

Above me, the dark threads (or veins perhaps?) of which the sky (or maybe ceiling?) was comprised began to move and shift more rapidly, the feeling of divinity and pure cosmic emotion beginning to overwhelm me. The lines cycling like speeding trains then began to slowly stretch apart and I knew this otherworldly presence was moving closer. A strong conviction entered my thoughts and I accepted that I was about to be judged. Then, emerging directly overhead from between the peeling lines I suddenly found my gaze locked with a single, enormous eye looking down on me. It stared deeply into me and I could feel it weighing my existence, every thought I had ever had, every action I had ever taken in my life, my passions, my strengths, my weaknesses, my very soul. It blinked once, stared just a moment longer and a feeling of contentment and love overtook me. This divine entity had completely & decidedly approved of me. And as quickly as it had appeared, it retreated into the sky of threads, and the gap in lines it had once occupied had closed.

I shook myself out of this beautifully strange world and back into our relative reality, with even more questions than before, but yet now with a deep confidence that yes, while I will improve in this life; I am enough. I am enough just being me. To this day, I will never forget the encounter with that otherworldly entity (“The Inspector”, as I have come to nickname them); And whether the experience was “real” or not is besides the point, for The Inspector gave me a special sort of cosmic approval and love for myself that I will never forget. And for that I am grateful.