Breath of Life

By Summer Bacon
 [From the one-day-to-be-published autobiography,
"The Cellars & Ceilings of Summer."]
 
"Leave the hall light on, Mom, and only shut the bedroom door halfway," I called to my mother every night after sweet goodnight hugs and kisses. It was a ritual that continued from the time I was five years old until my late teens.
 

Sometimes, there in the darkness, as my mom and I talked about the events of the day, I would beg her to do something for me: something that evolved out of my fascination with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I had heard of this life-giving measure, and asked my Mom about it over and over again. I wanted to know what it was and how it worked. One night she finally, tentatively, complied with my request to experience the process. I was in such awe of the experience that I begged her time and again to do it again. She only complied a few times, but the memories of those beautiful exchanges still linger to this day.
 
I would close my eyes, and very carefully exhale as much of the the air from my lungs as possible. Then, my mother would cup her mouth over mine and slowly breathe air into me, gently filling my lungs with her breath. It was the most wonderful sensation. I surrendered completely to this experience as her warm breath nourished my body and soul. She was always very nervous about doing this, as she didn't want to hurt me by overfilling my lungs. But, those were thoughts that were far away from my mind. Once my lungs were filled, she sat back and I would blissfully allow the air to flow out of my lungs. I wasn't doing it. I was surrendering to it.
 
Little did I know, I was being prepared to be a trance medium. The hardest part of surrendering to Spirit in deep trance, is the point at which you surrender your lungs and your breath. It is what I call the passing of the torch of life. It requires complete and absolute faith and trust. My beautiful mother taught this to me by passing her breath to me.
 
For me, the process of channeling has helped to make sense my life. I have reflected on my past and have discovered a profound relationship between my life experiences and how they contributed to my mediumship. My personal journey has not been easy, and I have often wondered why and how it became so complicated. Now, where once I could only see pain, I now see growth. Where once I feared, I now see the light of God...