Influenza is a reminder of one's mortality.  When its ugliness washes over us (comes flowing out of us?), it is possible for any of us to understand how it feels to be old and dieing.  The flu is an educational journey of life in reverse.  The first day we are on our death beds, possessing neither desire nor fear.  The soul becomes so mute, overshadowed with pain and illness, that it does not speak.  Perhaps on the second day, the voices of negativity...fear, worry, self-doubt...begin to creep in as we start thinking about our responsibilities.  But the positive desire is still lacking.  And how refreshing it is to feel youth creeping back into to the body and soul, cleansed, as finally positive thoughts, desires, and vitality returns.

Big is how you feel at a U2 concert.  Big is how you feel watching Fahrenheit 911 in the theater.  Big is how you feel when you join in solidarity to vote for change.

Big is important.

But big fades as soon as you leave the concert, theater, voting booth.  And then you feel alone in a world that is the same as it ever was.

Secret universes are buried deep within us...between us...flow among us in a smile or in a knowing look.  Secret universes are invisible but more real than that which is big.