My freedom love quest first takes me through the darkness, a place I have spent much time wading in and simultaneously trying to avoid. The inescapable abyss of despair, the dank darkness that abodes sorrow and stagnation. It is this darkness that in the beginning I flirted with and then swept under the carpet only for it to resurface again. It is admittedly where I have been lost amidst for the last several years of my life. It has made feel like I would never truly be able to embrace the light. Until now.

The word Krishna means divine dark recessed depth, it also means to draw to itself, as if to coax or lure the soul to go deeper on its path for actualization and enlightenment. The Hindu temples are built to illustrate the layers of the soul, the outer regions cover the most ground and then deeper into the temple with thousand year old stone beneath your bare feet, the air changes and becomes thicker, the light disappears, the sound echoes into itself, it is dank, deep and dark. All of this leading to the center where after peeling back all of its layers there is light, there is the deity dressed in flowers and bathed in coconut milk, and there you leave a piece of yourself with it and restoration unfolds.

Darkness drenched in light. I shall forever honor the darkness for what it is, the path to the light. I have climbed hundreds of steps and with every thump of my bones against the stone steps, every ounce of sweat and pound of my heart I repeated the same words over and over, I will get out of my own way. I chanted and I changed. I recirculated the flow of the darkness that has been stagnate for so long. I am not afraid of the dark any more.

I have touched places and witnessed rituals that most people will never be able to see, I have ventured through chambers of architecture constructed thousands of years ago which intuitively mirror the chambers of my heart and soul. I have seen hundreds of welcoming smiles and light filled eyes honored to share their heritage and peace with me. I have had dozens of hands reaching for my pale skin as if to try and feel my spirit. I feel blessed, embraced, stripped, humbled and most of all saved.

Thank you India.

Frankie