Personal Alchemy: from Void to Fullness

Personal Alchemy: from Void to Fullness

The black cat sat on the windowsill, its tail moving rhythmically like a metronome. Its eyes, two spheres of liquid amber, seemed to contain entire universes. The impeccably dressed executive observed it, motionless, from his leather armchair. Between them, a steaming cup of coffee and an unsigned contract.

The feline tilted its head, as if it could see through the executive's impeccable suit and facade of success. "At the pinnacle of your career, surrounded by all the symbols of your success, have you experienced that unsettling feeling that something fundamental is missing? As if you had built a magnificent castle, only to discover that its rooms are empty of purpose."

The man blinked, bewildered. Not by the fact that a cat was speaking, but by the question itself. "Constantly," he admitted, surprised by his own honesty.

"That void," the feline continued, "is like the space between stars. It seems like nothingness, but it contains the essence of everything."

The executive leaned forward, intrigued. "How can emptiness contain anything?"

The cat jumped onto the desk, its paws landing noiselessly on the contract. "Imagine that your being is like a teacup. The emptiness inside the cup is what makes it useful. Without that space, it couldn't contain anything."

The man looked at his coffee cup, seeing for the first time the space inside it, not just the liquid.

"The void," the cat continued, "is like a door that has always been there, but you've never tried to open. It has no lock, no key, not even a doorknob. It's just there, waiting. But not everyone dares to cross it."

The executive frowned, feeling a slight shiver run down his spine. "What's on the other side?" he asked, although deep down he knew the answer wasn't something that could be expressed in words.

The cat tilted its head, as if carefully considering the question. "It's not what's on the other side that matters," it finally said. Its eyes shone with ancestral wisdom as it continued: "What matters is what you bring back in your memory from the other side. It's that memory, that essence, which transforms your perception of this side."

The executive leaned back in his chair, and as the backrest slowly gave way, time began to dilate like honey spilling over an infinite tablecloth. For an instant that could have been hours—or centuries—he remembered that Dalí painting, The Persistence of Memory, where clocks melt under an indifferent sun. But here it wasn't clocks that were vanishing, but the very notion of temporality. The chair was no longer furniture, but a vehicle transporting him through layers of reality. He wondered, as he floated in a gravity-less void, if time was really a fraction of distance traveled or rather the slow, viscous assimilation of cosmic information.

He traversed impossible scenarios: a forest where trees grew inward, a city whose buildings pulsed like living organs, a desert of sand that sang in ancestral frequencies. In each, the laws of physics were rewritten like cursed poems. Until suddenly, the chair returned to its original position with a soft click, and the man returned to his office as if nothing had happened. Or as if everything had happened in a parallel plane that was now fading in the periphery of his consciousness.

"But... how do I access that?" he finally managed to articulate, his voice resonating strangely flat in the still air of the room.

The cat stretched languidly. "The path is already traced within you. Like the veins of a leaf, invisible until light passes through them."

Suddenly, the executive noticed that the coffee cup on his desk had transformed into a carved wooden bowl, brimming with a thick, dark liquid. Its aroma, intense and mysterious, filled the room with notes of damp earth and lush vegetation. It was as if the very essence of the Amazon had condensed into that drink, evoking images of ancestral shamans moving through the jungle mist. The aroma had a familiar undertone, reminiscent of coffee, but with an indescribable complexity that seemed to defy common senses, as if each inhalation were a portal to a hidden world.

"Drink," the cat indicated. "But don't drink the substance. Drink the wisdom it contains."

The man brought the bowl to his lips, closing his eyes. For a moment, he felt as if he were drinking the very essence of creation, and in that experience, he found a connection that transcended everything he had known before.

When he opened his eyes, the cat was staring at him intently. Its pupils, dilated and deep as bottomless wells, seemed to reflect the same inner journey the executive had just experienced. For an instant, the man didn't know if the feline would continue its mystical discourse or if it was observing him as if the animal were the one having a hallucination. The gaze was enigmatic, applicable to both possibilities, creating an unsettling bridge between realities. Before he could decipher the mystery, the cat nimbly jumped off the desk and left the office through the half-open door, as any common feline would do.

Blinking, still dazed by the experience, the man noticed a black card on the forgotten contract. In golden letters, it read: "Cobra Journey - Your bridge to the divine."

The executive remained motionless, with the card between his fingers, feeling as if time had stopped. In that moment of absolute stillness, he perceived a vast and indescribable presence, as if the entire universe had condensed in the room. It wasn't a journey he felt, but a revelation: the divine wasn't in some distant place, but here and now, pulsating in every atom of his being. The smile that formed on his lips wasn't one of understanding, but of recognition. As if he had remembered a truth forgotten for eons, a connection that had always existed but until now remained veiled. The void that had tormented him before transformed into an infinite canvas, where the ordinary and the extraordinary danced in perfect harmony. And he knew, without need for words, that this wasn't the end of a journey, but the awakening to an ever-present reality, always accessible, patiently waiting to be recognized.

The Transformative Power of Emptiness: A Journey Toward Fulfillment

Sometimes, life surprises us with uncomfortable silences—those moments when, even surrounded by success, achievements, and material possessions, we feel an emptiness we cannot ignore. This kind of emptiness cannot be filled with more things or more tasks; it is a call, an invitation to pause, look inward, and confront what we have avoided.

Reflecting on the story "Personal Alchemy: From Void to Fullness," I cannot help but feel that it describes a universal experience—that sensation of being at the top and yet feeling that something essential is missing. It is as if the universe momentarily pauses our routine to ask: What now? In these moments, we might perceive emptiness as an enemy, but this story teaches us to reinterpret it. It is not a lack but a fertile space inviting us to transform.

The story uses the metaphor of the empty cup, something so simple yet so powerful. It reminds us that it is precisely the space within the cup that gives it its utility. In my experience, that empty space is where our potential to grow, create, and truly experience something new resides. But it requires courage—courage to face that emptiness without trying to fill it immediately, courage to sit with our questions and explore them.

The encounter with the cat in the story is symbolically powerful. In it, I see the representation of those moments of wisdom that appear in unexpected forms. How many times have we ignored our "black cats"—those inner voices or external signs trying to guide us toward a deeper understanding of our existence? Perhaps it is because we are too busy looking outward, seeking answers in noise instead of silence.

Another element that struck me was the executive’s vision as he crosses the threshold into the void. It reminded me of experiences of connection with the divine, like those offered at Cobra Journey, which can challenge our perceptions and reconnect us with the sacred. In these spaces, designed for those seeking and prepared for such a profound encounter, it is possible to access a channel of perception that transcends conventional senses.

This type of connection cannot be put into words—it must be lived and integrated into the deepest part of one’s being.

Perhaps the most important lesson from the story is that the divine is not out of reach. It is here, now, available to those who allow themselves to explore the void and open themselves to its essence. The blessing of having spaces like the spiritual retreats offered by Cobra Journey lies in the fact that they finally provide a tangible opportunity for those ready to delve into this transformative encounter with the sacred.