Let's go north tonight.
Way north.
Picture a wide, snowy field in Alaska.
Far from any town.
No streetlights for miles.
You're lying on your back in the snow.
But you're not cold at all.
You're bundled in a thick sleeping bag.
Heavy fur blankets on A top.
wool hat pulled down over your ears.
Only your face peeks out.
The air on your cheeks is crisp.
Everything else is toasty.
For the next six minutes...
you'll just lie here.
And look up.
The sky is enormous up here.
Darker than you've ever seen it.
Stars all the way down to the ground.
Let your body sink into the snow.
It's packed and soft beneath you.
Like a mattress made for this.
Whatever today was...
it's very far away now.
Thousands of miles south.
Back where the traffic is.
The long weekend is ending there.
Somebody is already packing lunches for Monday.
Let them.
Tomorrow's alarm is set.
You don't have to check it again.
Let it shrink.
Like a town seen from a plane window.
Tiny lights, then nothing.
Out here there's no phone signal.
Nobody can reach you.
And that's the whole point.
Breathe in the icy arctic air...
And let your breath out slowly.
Watch it rise in a soft cloud.
One more time.
In...
And out...
the cloud fading into the dark.
Now look to the north.
Low on the sky.
There's a faint green glow.
At first you're not sure it's real.
Then it grows.
It stretches into a long ribbon.
Pale green, rising up over you.
It moves very slowly.
Like a curtain in a gentle breeze.
It folds over itself.
Brightens at one end.
Fades at the other.
There's no way to predict it.
And nothing you need to understand.
Let your breath move with it.
As the ribbon rises...
breathe in.
As it folds and drifts...
breathe out.
In...
the light brightening.
Out...
the light softening.
Now a second ribbon appears.
A hint of violet along the edge.
The two of them sway together.
Across the whole sky.
Without a single sound.
It's so quiet out you here...
can hear your own Slow heartbeat.
and steady inside the sleeping bag.
In...
And People out...
travel a long way to see this.
And some nights it doesn't come.
Tonight it came for you.
You don't have to earn it.
Just watch.
In...
the colors ripple.
Out...
your whole body settling deeper.
The lights drift on.
Slow and silent.
You can stop following them now.
Let your eyes close under the glow.
You can still feel the light.
Soft green on your eyelids.
The snow holds you.
The sky moves above you.
If a thought from home drifts up...
let it float into the green.
It fades like everything out else here.
A breath of wind lifts a little snow.
It settles again.
Breathing in...
And out...
The sky will glow for hours.
Whether you watch or not.
Warm and small...
under all that light.
Green and violet...
moving slowly over the snow.
Drift with it.
Goodnight.