The Oprah Moment

Outside my hospital room on the seventh floor, the heart of the city continues to beat. Its pulse as tangible and audible as the metal valve that now clicks inside my very own heart. A reminder of my mortality and the fragility of life.

After spending 2 months in a hospital bed it makes you think about the outside world that lay beyond your reach. It also leaves you wondering about people missing. My sister went missing whilst I was ill in hospital. She unexpectantly passed away.

I have searched for her in dreams and even in the faces of strangers, but she remains distant and lost to this world.
As small children we learn to fear the dark. As adults we are taught to seek the light. Finding a balance is perhaps one of the greatest challenges.

We are told that somewhere out in the unknown is a place called Heaven that is big enough to solve the future housing problems of the developed world.

Is Heaven a utopian dream, a spiritual mecca or a means to help us live with the loss of the people we value and love? Some people walk the streets in search of Heaven, others devour an ice cream by the same name. What and where is Heaven? if there is light at the end of the tunnel will it be discovered in an episode of 'Charmed'.

I refer to this phase in my life as the "Oprah Moment". Suddenly I can't do enough 'random acts of kindness' or righting the wrongs of the world. My mortality looms large and I ache for the time that the fear will subside and I will revert to being just another guy riding the subway of life.