My best friend, Dad

by Mary B.
(Missouri)

This is actually a story about my father. He was an alcoholic, workaholic, and a laughaholic. We had a perfect father-daughter relationship. We were best friends and enjoyed all the same things: a Daddy's girl I am! He suffered from panic attacks and depression. He would tell me of this thing he could do when he lay in bed. He said he would concentrate hard and could see himself lying in bed as if he were on the ceiling. He would look down at himself and called it "floating." He did this many times throughout my childhood and when I was entering college he became more fascinated with it. He said that he was told that if you take it too far and your spiritual and physical body could separate causing your physical body to die. Years later when I was 19, my father was found at home dead: accidental overdose it was ruled. Three months after his passing I met with the detective and he asked if I had read the note my Dad had left behind. "Note!" I had no idea there was, so I read it. "I'm sorry Mary. Tell Sandy and Vanessa I love them. Going in for the float, hope Dad doesn't interfere this time..." His father whose home we lived in had passed years earlier and can be seen and heard in the house from time to time. It made sense to me because we talked about everything, it answered some questions for the detective as well. Has anyone experienced something like this? Im interested to know if it is a means of escape or adventure? I would love to know more. -Mary, 23

Ben's Answer:

I'm sorry for your loss Mary. This is a very interesting story. What your father was doing could be called "astral travel" or out-of-body experiences (OBE's). It is important to know that when the soul or astral body or spiritual body separates from the physical body, it is still connected and can always come back in an instant. There is no risk of harm to your physical body and people don't die this way.

Given that your father essentially left a good-bye note, it sounds like he "floated off" with the intention to not return. If the official cause of death was overdose, than it seems likely that the drugs and/or alcohol effectively prevented him from waking up.

Clearly your father had a thirst for other-wordly adventure, but with a history of depression, anxiety (and maybe bipolar?), I would think he was seeking escape as well.

The ability to have astral or spiritual experiences is natural to all of us if we choose to develop those faculties. Seeking a final exit however, is rarely what a person would choose unless their earthly existence was no longer tolerable.

Blessings and Peace to you and your father,
Ben
Santa Rosa Psychotherapist

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