Not on earth. Not in the sky. The space I speak of is not outside—it’s the vastness of space within. How big can it be? How much can it stretch? Even your imagination can’t take you there.

This is the ocean of space where I sometimes, if not often, swim. Water may not have been my friend, but this ocean is. When mundane jobs for someone else consumed a major chunk of my time, time itself seemed to shrink. There was no time for those special things like relaxing, resting, dreaming—or, to use a cliché, building castles in the air.

After retirement, when I suddenly found myself with no job to do, I was too lazy to take up anything new, fearing that it might magnetically attract more responsibility or require taxing efforts. New skills had to be acquired skills that would keep the mind blank yet active.

As my creative thoughts wandered listlessly, a solution jumped right in front of me and stuck like a mosquito in search of blood.

The answer was "nothing." As I sat in deep contemplation, wondering what to do, my mind became occupied with lazy thoughts. But didn’t these very thoughts keep my mind entertainingly busy? That’s what I had been seeking, wasn’t it? This was the way forward.

Whether I was waiting for sleep to take me into temporary unconsciousness, watching a TV show that failed to captivate my attention, listening to a song with no melody, or just sitting, my mind found the lost freedom to roam. It created visions, ideas, thoughts, hopes, and scenarios that might never happen. But while my mind drifted in this untethered, unhurried exploration of mental space, true relaxation finally came.

What if I had qualified for some prestigious job? Wasn’t I above average in math, accounting, law, and economics? My mind opens wide with fanciful possibilities. Or what if I had gone to the US with my brother’s help, become a graduate, an MBA, or a PhD? Could I have been a businessman, an executive, or a computer wizard? If this had happened, what then? If that hadn’t happened, what?

And so, endlessly, my mind travels through the world of make-believe—of success, fame, and the goodness of everything.

Happiness, right?

Continued in 157. Hover-art - Part 2