Old Soul, New Soul, Familiar Soul

Bang bang BANG! “Where am I!? HELLO?! Anybody out there?” shuffles around. What the hell is this? A book, Samsara reached for it. Something felt familiar but it was hard to pinpoint what exactly it was. When they opened the book things fell on to their feet. In a confused manner Samsara dropped the book and ran their hands from the top of their chest down to their legs. The left hand got caught on something near the waist and with their thumb bumped a button which triggered a light. They flinched at the sight of it but slowly recognized the object. With it, the objects on the ground became recognizable. Samsara bent down to pick them up. Without hesitation they began reading the words on each object, Name: Samsara, age: 290, one hundred dollars. Simultaneously, Samsara picked up a pair of sunglasses, instinctively put them on their face and read “...estimated time of arrival: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2..” Light spilled into the room and a figure reached for their hand.

“Welcome, please state your name?” “Samsara. Where am I?” Samsara looked at the figure, it was strange, long arms, long legs and a short torso; It’s head was the shape of a small box with a lens that would spin 360 degrees around. Samsara’s observations were interrupted, “That bracelet in your hand, put it on” As they put on the bracelet, Samsara couldn’t shake off the familiarity of it all. “Will you tell me where I am now? Or at least what your name is?” “I don’t have a name” the figure replied, “but you can call me Blue, it’s my favorite color”. “AND… you’re blue”, Samsara pointed out. Both of them walked towards a station and as soon as they stepped onto the platform, a bullet train rushed in, stopped and it’s doors opened. “I’m taking you to where you will be staying”, Blue said.

Once at the new home, Blue gave Samsara some instructions ending the conversation with a firm reminder, “Whatever you do, DO NOT lose the black notebook” Before Samsara could turn and ask why, Blue was gone. All alone, Samsara approached the home and walked through the door not knowing what to expect. The entry hall had large trees along the sides popping out of the glass ceiling; it was as if the house was built around them so as to not disturb them. After the hallway was the living room where Samsara decided to sit and go through the book.

On the first page of the book, it read, Your bracelet is to be used as your ID, sometimes will help you find what you are looking for, need or want. You are to use this notebook to document your findings. You will be given 20,000 dollars for one of your missions. 20,000! Samsara, flipped the page to the first mission and continued reading. You must begin meditation in a calm place. This will facilitate finding your mission, your purpose. They shut the book and continued their tour of the home. Samsara found a room with a bed and a large bathtub on the opposite side. The tub overlooked the forest, a beautiful view enhanced by the crystal clear glass wall. Tempted by the thought of a warm bath, Samsara began to fill the tub. They walked through the room thinking of things to do with the money and circled back to the tub. Their mind was racing. Wondering what their purpose is, the money, how long will they be here for. Meditate. “Hello? Who’s there?” Hmm, maybe I’m hearing things. They let their thoughts rush through over and over. Meditate. Confused Samsara looked around once more and saw no one. They closed their eyes, held their breath and submerged themselves completely into the water. There, in the silence of the water, all thoughts halted.

Breathe! In that slight moment of peace, images of lives they once lived flashed through their mind. BREATHE. Samsara gasped for air as they burst through the surface of the water. The images ran in the back of their mind while getting out of the tub. For a slight second there seemed to be a glitch, different faces all at once showed in the mirror they faced. There didn’t seem to be an answer to help comprehend what they saw. Once they gathered themselves, grabbed the black notebook and opened it to the first mission. Meditate somewhere calm. They shut the book again, put it in a satchel and walked out to the forest following the sound of a river. At the river they found a large flat rock to sit on. Before beginning to meditate they opened the book once more and read the next sentence. You must look for the sound, the image, the colors, smells, moments all which bring you joy. Put those together to find who you are. They closed their eyes; eyes fluttering Samsara tried to focus on the sound of the river. Colors in a kaleidoscope formation appeared in the back of their eyelids and slowly everything disappeared, nothing. They took a deep breath and a familiar smell filled their nose. With no image to connect to the smell, Samsara stood up and decided to follow it instead.

They reached a small cottage, smoke rising out of the chimney and the smell that they found so familiar became more intense. Dinner. Their stomach grumbled. “You must be hungry.”, someone said as they approached Samsara from behind. They jolted and turned to find an elder. Samsara agreed timidly. “Come in, dinner is about ready”, the elder said as they turned to their guest. “My name is Sage. What is your name?” Samsara replied, a little more relaxed now, “Samsara but you can call me Sam.” The elder looked at them in a kind of awe, “You remind me a lot of my son. Sadly he passed away about a year ago. We had an awful argument before he left hunting. I never saw him again. But you, it’s like I’m looking right at him” The elder poured warm stew into a bowl that was placed in front of Sam. The day went on as they chatted. They laughed, cried and the elder shared many stories with Samsara. As the sun began to set, Sam excused themselves, thanked the elder for the food and stories and went on their way. Is this what the journal meant? Joy rushed through as a tear streamed down their cheek.

A few weeks went by. Samsara meditated everyday in hopes of finding their purpose. Their senses seemed to guide them towards joyful meetings. It was always a similar interaction. Samsara had a familiarity to all the people encountered. “Could this have anything to do with the faces I saw in the mirror?”, they wondered out loud. You bring them joy, they search for those faces knowing they’ll never see them again. You are their last chance to see their loved ones who left too soon. Samsara had become accustomed to the voice which came whenever they had a question; it became more noticeable the more they meditated. Apart from the notebook’s instructions they decided to do something a little bit different, noting down their encounters. Each page contained a small description of every new person met, how they were guided to them, the sensed relative to the stranger and a little sketch of how they felt when listening to the stories. It was as if Samsara was reliving past lives; mending, creating closure with past loved ones through this new body. Unknowingly, those strangers were finding the faces they were longing to see.

Sam became more aware of the surroundings. It was as if past loved ones were being magnetically pulled towards Sam. Smells, images, memories all rushed through when walking in crowds. Stranger’s emotions became more apparent. People became more recognizable. As if they had met in a past life. Old souls, new souls, familiar souls. Samsara felt it and saw it with their own eyes. An unshakable feeling that followed as long as there were people around. But what does this all mean. Sam’s bracelet buzzed. It read, “Black notebook” The black notebook! How could I forget!? They reached into the satchel for the book, opened it to find a page that read, Second mission: You must now put your money to good use. If you decide within the next 5 hours what you will do with it, your money will double. Once 10 hours are reached without a decision all of the money will be lost.

Everything had been going so well in the first mission. There had been Sunday strolls with a single mom, coffee with a lovely widowed old man, a couple who had just lost a teenage child and of course Sam couldn’t forget Sage. All of the people Sam met brought joy and at moments everything felt like it was in place. Now for the second mission, money was the focus. It was a sudden heavy feeling, everything in the next few hours was to revolve around the thought of money. “I don’t have to pay for food or my home so this leaves me with the option to use the money for anything. But what?” There was only four hours left, the past hour had been spent in anguish because Sam didn’t want to lose all of the money. They wanted to double it. Once more Sam opened the book to see if there were any other instructions that could’ve been missed.The money can be used for yourself or for others. In that moment Sam thought of Sage. The elder had mentioned their dream of moving to a different land to end their life in; Something new. I want to help Sage! It would be great to see them happy. The bracelet buzzed and read $40,000. The money was doubled but Sam was unbothered by it. Instead Sam grabbed their things and headed out to find Sage with the news.

“Sage!”, yelled Sam. The cabin was empty. They began to panic thinking they were too late. In the back of the cottage, there was a loud repetitive chopping-like sound. They ran out the back door and found Sage chopping wood. Sam gave the elder the news and after a bit of convincing Sage went in to pack. On their way into the city they bumped into Blue. “Where are you headed to?”, Blue asked. Sam was excited to see them and completely disregarded the question. “Blue! It is so nice to see you! Meet my friend Sage.” Sage looked at the figure standing tall in front of them and gave a shy wave. “I’ve doubled the money I was initially given and now I’m taking my friend to live out a dream. Isn’t it exciting!?” Sam exclaimed. Blue was a bit confused now but said in wonder, “You aren’t like others I’ve encountered. Most would go on their own to live out their own desires.” Unknowingly, Sam had reached happiness. “What about your purpose?” Blue asked. Not knowing what that was yet Sam simply replied with, “It doesn’t matter now. I’m happy helping someone else find happiness.”

A couple years went by and at that point Sage’s time had come. Before dying Sage said “I think this is your purpose. This is who you are. You’re the light that brings happiness to those like me who live in a dark place and don’t know how to get out of it. Thank you, Samsara” A new feeling filled Samsara, a feeling which they hadn’t felt before. It was the joy of all the senses put together.

After putting Sage to rest, Sam followed that purpose. To love and bring happiness to those they encountered because even as strangers there was alway some kind of connection, whether it was in this life or in another.

The bracelet buzzed, “Next mission”.