The Joy of Appreciation

It was a mixture of curiosity and an electromagnetic pull that brought me over to the unassuming black book. It was out of place on a small wire display stand, like you would see on a bookshelf, in the middle of the crush and run parking lot. Picking it up and turning it over, the only interruption in the smooth matte finish, was the word MoleSkine embossed in the middle of the bottom on the back cover. Sliding the elastic band back a shimmer emitted from the elastic and my eyes rested on a page that simply said:

Joy Livingston Park: walk in iron gate entrance

Third tree on right side of entry way

On right side of tree

Dig six inches down

Red box, safety deposit box key

Alman’s State Trust Bank

Box # 11

Be wise

What will you write in your notebook to inspire the Joy of Appreciation?

Closing the book, a sheepish smile spread, as foolish as it felt the treasure hunt was on. It was 3:11pm, with three hours until sunset, I made a dash to Hardy’s Handy to buy a spade. Six inches was not all that far down and less attention to the matter was paramount.

Watching the clock, the anticipation and excitement coursed through my veins. Doubts and a warning voice crept up in my thoughts as I meditated on the single vision of that key. The annoying chime of the phone got louder and louder as the alarm went off. Dozing off and missing the sun slide below the horizon caused a sluggish and damping feeling that wore into a peaceful state of duty to a chore to be done.

Picking up the canvas bag with the flashlight, water, and the spade, I headed out to my bike. The bright yellow paint called out like a beacon begging to be sprung from the Kryptonite chain that held it to the handle at the bottom of the wood fence. Peddling steady and with few cars on the road the park was in my sights in record time. I had walked past and through the park a million times, yet today it seemed like the iron gate with peeling black paint was a portal to a whole new world. Walking in and scanning left and right to make sure I was alone, I started counting the trees in my head. As I passed each tree one, two, and here we are. The third tree was a Japanese Maple, a planted decorative to make the park seem more prestigious than its humble reality.

Going over to the right side of the tree, bending down to my knees, I began the dig. Thank the Gods, that after the third spade of rich black dirt it struck something hard that would not give. It was the box. With my hands, I brushed the top of the red lacquered metal box. It was eight inches square all around. The clasp popped with minimal pressure and the lid flipped back as if it were spring loaded. There it was just how I imagined, the rounded circles gleaming golden in the light at the top tapering down into a streamlined branch to hold the end of the classic skeleton looking key.

I packed the key back in the box and knocked the dirt off the spade before putting everything in the bag and slinging the strap over my shoulder. I took off for home. Upon arrival, I contemplated how to calm myself enough to sleep. I Googled the bank hours, they were 9am to 5pm. I put on the meditations and drifted off with dreams of possibilities. I must have imagined sixty or so scenarios before I was unconscious.

Waking up again to the growing impatience of the chime, I hurriedly brushed my teeth and threw on some clothes that were laying in a pile. Mounting the bike, I had forgotten to chain the night before, I began peddling the three miles to the bank. Cars were everywhere, the traffic rush was maddening and was an unwelcome impediment between the treasure and I. Finally, the epic journey was over. I glided into the parking lot and up to the hidden bike rack. Chaining the bike, I slung the canvas bag over my shoulder and rushed to the mahogany desk to the left in the lobby.

Nobody was in the vicinity of the nerdy looking man who sat behind the desk. A name plate that said “KEN BANCINI” sat sadly cockeyed on the corner. I walked up and said, “Hi Ken, I need to get to safety deposit box #11.”

“Are you in possession of the key?”, the gentleman replied.

“Yes, I am.”

“No ID needed then, follow me,” Ken said flatly getting up and pulling open the drawer on the desk all in one smooth motion. He pulled out a key that looked remarkably like the one I had and walked toward a solid metal door with grates on one side. He pressed his thumb into a blue plasma screen on the wall and a loud clank reverberated through the bank. Then the grates rolled back, and we walked through to the inside of a huge standing room vault. He walked to the far wall and right up to #11 and placed his key in one of the locks on the front of the metal door.

He motioned for me to do the same with my key. I put the bag down on the ground and pulled the red box out. Popping the lid, I grabbed the key and slid it into the other lock. Ken instructed me to turn it counterclockwise at the count of three. He said we would have to do it at the same time, or the teeth would not release and open the lock.

Ken counted, “One, two, three”.

Miraculously, on the first try, we twisted the keys and a softer click escaped out of the lock as the teeth released. Ken stepped back away from the box and went to stand in the corner.

“Use the metal table”, Ken said.

I placed the heavy box on the table and finished opening the contents. One of my imagining had included money. Peeling the metal lid back slowly I exposed column after column of hundred-dollar bills. Altogether, there were five stacks. I gingerly maneuvered a stack out and began counting. Forty hundred-dollar bills to a stack. Some quick math landed the total at twenty thousand dollars.

I put the stacks in the duffle bag and glanced in Ken’s direction letting him know I was done collecting the contents and ready to leave. He came and picked the metal box back up and placed in the wall socket where it belonged. I followed him out to the main entrance of the bank and went about my way.

I biked down to the ocean and sat in the sand, starring out at the turquoise waves rolling in a single tear slid down my face and splashed against the sand. Gratitude filled my whole body and spilled into my aura. I knew I had to keep this feeling and this vibration going. Everyone needed to experience this magnitude of joy in appreciating the goodness of unexpected enrichment. A plan was hatching in my mind.

I immediately grabbed my Moleskine journal after riding home. The cover states, “A word after a word, after a word is power” and so I set out to writing some power. I took seven hundred-dollar bills and taped one to each of seven pages. I started with drawing a red ball on the first page to represent the root chakra. Then, this is what I settled on writing in the middle of the page: “Root Chakra - I AM safe, secure, abundant. I have all resources I need and extra to share. I have joy in gratitude.” Then, under that I taped the hundred-dollar bill.

The next page contained an orange ball in the middle of the page I wrote: “Sacral Chakra- I AM creating my life. I have infinite thankfulness for my abundant relationships.” Under this went the second hundred-dollar bill.

The third hundred-dollar page had a golden yellow ball with the words: “Solar Plexus Chakra- I AM doing the will of the divine. For this, I am blessed with health. I am moved with motivational appreciation.”

The fourth page was adorned with a green ball and the words “Heart Chakra- I AM love. For this, I am blessed with love. I have infinite faith and joy.” Then the fourth hundred-dollar bill was taped on the page.

Above the fifth hundred-dollar bill were the words, “Throat Chakra- I AM communication. For, this I my words are soothing and connecting. I have the power to speak my motivation and intention.”

The sixth page was adorned with a purple ball and the words, Third-Eye Chakra- I AM intuition. For, this I am blessed with sight. I have the blessing to see life truly.” Under the words like all the other pages was the sixth hundred-dollar bill.

Lastly, the seventh page contained the final hundred-dollar bill a black lined circle creating a white ball and the words, “Chakra- I AM connected to my higher source. For this, I am blessed and a blessing. How will I inspire the joy of gratitude?”

I turned the next page and wrote in the middle of the page…” Write your story…”.

With the words written I set out to place the book where the person who needed it most would find it. I placed the little wire rack in the sand by my favorite palm tree with the ocean a safe distance away. I put the book so it stood prominently out and would beckon the right seeker.

I walked off into the sunset.