Julieta Ax

My family and I were traveling to Europe for my younger sister’s wedding. We were on our way back to Brazil from Morocco, and I had my eyes closed. The plane was very big, and my husband was sitting next to me. Behind us were my older sister, my brother-in-law, and my mom (at least that’s how I remember it, though I’m not completely sure). There was the white noise of the engine, the bright light coming through the window, and a Moroccan-style melody filling the whole space. I felt very calm and relaxed — I loved flying, and I was happy with this trip. I was recovering from a bad flu with a very inflamed throat. I wasn’t sleeping, but I was almost drifting off. Then an image appeared in my mind. Everything was so clear and vivid, as if I were watching a movie with my eyes closed. I was startled, but not scared. It was so incredibly beautiful that I didn’t want to open my eyes to tell the others what was happening, afraid it would all disappear. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was one of the most beautiful things that has happened to me in my 43 years of life. In my mind — literally as if I were daydreaming — I saw a gorgeous Moroccan building with colorful tiles. I could move closer and farther away. The brightness impressed me the most, because all my life, whenever my eyes are closed, everything is always dark. After a few seconds, everything went dark again, so I opened my eyes and tried to explain to my husband what had just happened. And then he told me that this was imagining, and that it was something everyone could do all the time. “Everyone can do that all the time?” I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. It didn’t seem possible that everyone else had that superpower except me. There were still several hours left before we reached Brazil, and I didn’t have internet access to look up what had happened, so I started a little investigation with my family. I asked everyone if they could imagine, and out of all of them, only my mom didn’t fully understand what I meant. Later I learned that she could imagine, but at a low level, and that my younger sister had never imagined visually — she only imagines sounds. Later on, I also learned that people can imagine with their eyes open, which felt impossible to me. But it happened to me twice — for just one second — like a tiny photograph flashing in my mind, and then never again. Still, at least now I know what it looks like. I also learned that all the senses can be imagined, but in my case I only have sounds — mostly my own inner voice and songs that get stuck in my head — and a very faint sense of touch. Everything else, nothing.