 Good morning everyone. When people come together with focus and passion, is there not a high degree of integration and interconnectivity which gives a sort of elegance? And through shared intention, a sort of grace, this increases and broadens our consciousness. Could this consciousness be a fundamental feature of the universe, emerging possibly from complexity, integrated information and sensation? What happens when we immerse ourselves in the unformed or pre-state of this consciousness? What happens in the float experience? This deep, simple, not so simple experience. This experience which is manifested in as many ways as those who partake of it. You are the keepers, the purveyors, the innovators of this deep, strange, profound practice. If you will, an immersion practice. This experience in which we are immersed in potential can help bind us closer to creativity, to choice, to hope, and to each other. It in some ways can be compared with other immersion practices like meditation, shamanic practices, nature, immersion, music, sound, movement. It can be associated with wisdom or intelligence fields or sources like Irvin Laszlo's deep dimension, Stuart Kaufman's poised realm, Buddhism's plenum void, Pierre Chardin's new sphere, or Giulio Tononi's integrated information. Could this experience be compared to Hindus' lila, the increasing play of appearance and disappearance, of forming and dissolution, the surface manifestation of the deeper reality, the creative play of the divine absolute? In this state, the theta state, the protean potential state, the fluid state, we are immersed in a core, creative milieu. It is in this state that the external determinants of our reality become redefined. This state deconstructs expectation and poetizes intention. In this state, we find ourselves immersed in a pure potential. As the Buddhists say, a pre-something state, freed from the constraints both societal and conscious, perception becomes enhanced related to the new, which may also be the hidden old. There is danger here, but also wonder, and isn't creativity in part danger and wonder intertwined. This enhancement relates to the enhancement of the human condition, from the quantum through the neuron, all the way to our ability to create concepts, art, and science, and to begin again to facilitate the healing potential of our ruptured world. This state is possibly the essential state of interconnectedness, the wellspring of empathy, which leads to the action of altruism. And in this state, the intertwining or dissolution with or into the other brings about a natural intimacy. We open. Boundaries, while maintaining coherence, become more porous, selectively permeable. And if one is part of all beings, how can one not love all beings? From intention to attention, to awareness, to absorption, to dissolution, to a reimagining and a re-perceiving. This could be the ultimate reorganizing and recycling of sense data. This is the creative ecology. I have gathered some thoughts from friends, learned, heartfelt Floatmasters, as a prelude to an upcoming book, which I will be editing on the heart or the essence of the Float experience. Pardon me, but these have been edited for brevity. Kevin McCullough, FloatSTL, St. Louis. The Float is sacred. The Float is pure. The Float is truth. It allows us to, allows us contact with deep knowing wisdom. We are able to find perspective, clarity, and humility. We connect with resources of calm, courage, and curiosity. We feel spacious, alive, and at peace. Jacob Resch, FloatSTL, St. Louis. The rhythm of stillness. The equanimity of nothingness. The liminality between thoughts. The feel of the Float is most vivid when we return into the space in which we left. Emptied and filled. Emptied and filled. Each beat bringing the warmth of clarity. Graham Talley, Float On, Portland. It's easy to embrace our attitudes and thoughts as though they are actually our own. Changing your mind too much is often considered a sign of weak beliefs or lack of integrity. I contend that, just like the Float Tanks, we should receive whatever enters with openness. Our own opinions should be still and fluid. Ashkan Chiromi, Float On, Portland. The Float experience takes you on a journey of perspective. You live on Float One, keeping a tight mental focus on the daily activities required to navigate the world. The higher you go, the more the noise below blends into a ubiquitous background hum. Higher still, you can see everything below you. It's time to redraw the map that will guide you on your descent. Shoshana Liebner, FTA, Float Dreams, San Francisco. To float is to dream. With your eyes open, its gifts are endless, unmeasurable. It's space divine. It's like being home again. Kerry Clank, Rise Float House, Truckee, California. Freedom and vulnerability as pure potential. With body and mind at rest and peace, we are vulnerable, moldable. We go into the void to clear the canvas, renewed again and again so that we are free to create our heart's desire. Jay Lux, Rise Float House, Truckee. The tank doesn't lie. I enter the portal, searching for answers of self, soul, testing the warrior within. The ego becomes humbled, finding calmness, acceptance of the true self. Tim and Shannon from Still Life in Bellingham, Washington. The ultimate stillness. The stillness in space to fully exist. To let your body heal, to allow your mind to wander, or to release your spirit to travel the cosmos. The opportunity to simply be. In the tank, does not the float experience by redefining the consensus, by unintegrating information and decreasing sensation give a resting of our commotion consciousness. Thus allowing for a creative reintegration of information and a reinforcement of sensation. Creating levity and joy related to the detritus of the mundane and the stultifying and controlling effects of dogmatic practices and dominating narratives. In essence, creating the condition of creativity and providing the impetus for the energetics of openness and love and the dynamics of a compassionate, conscious spirit. It is this that might save us and this in part the mission of our industry. As a board member of the FTA and a self-styled float contemplative, I ask you please honor yourselves for your intelligence, heartfulness, your creativity your commitment and to heating the call of this strange, profound wisdom practice. Thank you.