The Affirmary

Welcome woman to my retreat, to the Boudoir of Bondaged Souls. You are here seeking an outlet for your feminine frustration, somewhere you may go where you can enjoy long-term respite from the battlefield of life. My Boudoir is this place.

Please, leave your leg braces at the door and distribute your weight evenly. The strength to carry your own body mass already exists within your frame, your external supports being unnecessary items that act as nothing more than medals for your deeper delusions.

Come, follow me to the Affirmary, a place where your dressings shall be removed and where a full introspection of your wounds may take place. Yes, the Boudoir is a beautiful retreat. During your stay here you will discover many hidden jewels within these walls, rooms that lead to corridors, and stairways that go both above and below, each one revealing an essence of self that many believe is reserved only for ancient mystics.

Now that we are here, make yourself comfortable, appreciative of the fact that the Affirmary will cater for your every need. As you relax, allow me to remove the bandage from your head and the patch from your eye. Do not fret as I do this because these symbols of suffering are nothing but a counter-attack on the enemies of harmonious thought.

Undress and submerge your body in the bath in the centre of the room. My staff will bathe your skin from head to toe, cleansing you with the mountain water it contains and washing you with dew collected from the gardens early this morning in preparation for your arrival. Close your eyes, focusing only on the feminine touch of their hands as they penetrate the epidermis, stimulating each sensory nerve that reaches for the surface. As you are gently washed down, know that the dirt of your mental trench is dissolving; the muddy trespasser that defiled your spiritual cleanliness finally being annihilated, the victory of newness a magnificent trophy that bears your name.

Stand up and accept the soft towels being wrapped around your body, a mothers’ embrace welcoming home her beloved daughter. When you are ready, come and lie on the chaise longue by the window where I will massage your skin with scented virgin oil, a substance pressed from red olives that grow in abundance in the groves of the Boudoir. Yes, it is a rare olive indeed, one favoured by monarchs and yet one their money cannot buy. Only distinguished guests of the Boudoir reap the rewards of the unique healing properties of the red olive, a gift to those whose appreciation of it endures a lifetime.

From the look of contentment upon your face, I see that you are refreshed and at ease, with peace covering you like a bridal veil. It is in this state that your mind is open to suggestion, so let us look at the next stage of your treatment.

Here, in the Affirmary, our healing methods are akin to those of an army commander: repetitive instructions that brainwash an individual into submitting to another’s’ superiority.

You are the commander in chief, whilst your thoughts are the troops that obey your orders without question. So far, the management of your troops has been ineffective. You have suffered insult and injury. You have become weary in a war that never ceases, always on alert and ready to detonate the verbal bombs that you stockpile with pride. What you must do is retrain and regroup the individuals within your troops so that their efforts are always aligned with the good, their highest ideals resonating with those of the spirit, and their fate geared towards the construction of humanity and not its unnecessary destruction.

Your troops – thoughts that march through your mind – require a leader who loves because this ensures harmony for all individuals. A commander filled with hate, paranoia, and other forms of self-serving fear pollutes the environment in which her troops function, reducing them to barbaric scavengers who fight amongst themselves, the strongest ones becoming brutal dictators who will eventually over throw you.

Your first task then is to appeal to the loyalty of your troops, to round them up into one whole so that their actions are in unison with your specific instructions at all times. Start by telling them that the mighty empire of the mind shall be rebuilt. Instruct them to put down their weapons because from this moment forward they are the peacemakers and the life givers. Accept responsibility for your role, for the manner in which you have confused and disorientated them, but assure them that the glory of life belongs to you all and, with their help, you shall deliver it to them.

For seven days you are to remain here in the Affirmary. Each day you will be given a statement that you must repeat from morning until night, making it the only dominant thought that resides in your head. Repeat it non-stop until your troops are chanting the statement with you, your dedication to their well being being the form of leadership they have longed for.

The first statement as part of this retraining process is this:

“I love, honour, and value everything that I am.”

I shall return to you tomorrow to set your next affirmation. In the meantime, make yourself at home and immerse yourself fully in the delights of the Boudoir, knowing that in these walls you are loved, honoured and valued for everything that you are.

And with this I bid you farewell.

Notes:

(This story is from the collection Boudoir of Bondaged Souls, a multimedia experience currently being developed by Naked Raver, consisting of art, music, TV, and short stories.).