I flew into Detroit around 2 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. By Friday morning, I was on a plane home and had assembled two Dreampods. This time it was in a suburb of Detroit called Farmington Hills, at a Float Center called Sapphire Springs.

Alex and Anthony are the owners of Sapphire Springs and were both incredibly accommodating and gracious during the trip. When you float there make sure to say hi.
I’ve never been to Michigan before, so it’s always wonderful to experience a new place. Overtime you begin to realize everywhere and everyone are incredibly similar. Not in the depressing way of all life is mundane and we’re all the same, but in the comforting way. The realization people in general are kind, generous, and genuinely good-natured. Maybe I float too often and just see the good in everyone…but I’ll take it.
Michigan was beautiful. The weather was extremely enjoyable the entire time. There was rain one day, but it was that kind of rain that just feels refreshing and not overwhelming or too dreary.

The actual installation of the Dreampods went relatively smoothly; there’s always little differences from place to place. Small things you have to adjust for when connecting everything and allowing enough space for this part or that part. This time was no different but in the end all was well.
There was one evening, however, I happened to end up working rather late. Through a series of events I found myself there around midnight and still working. Dumping salt, testing connections, going back and forth from pod to pod and ensuring all was well. I won’t go into the reasons why I was there so late but rather the type of thoughts that were running through my head.
Everyone in the industry of floating knows the story of how it came into being. John C. Lilly is widely known as the original founder of floating and credited with creating the first sensory deprivation tank back in the 50’s. I won’t go into a history lesson. A quick Google search will bring up more than enough information- some good and some not so good- but as I was working I began to think about the simple act of floating itself.
Obviously, human beings have been doing it in one way shape or form for much longer than 60 years. At the core of modern day flotation therapy it’s simply salt plus water. Dreampods are magnificent tanks and have all the latest technology designed to enhance the floating experience, which is a good thing. Making floating more approachable and enticing for the average person is always a good thing. The more people who try floating and become avid floaters the better off the world as a whole will be, or at least that’s my belief.
Once again it’s simply salt and water that is the real magic. The environment that is created is so unique and yet so simple. The benefits are endless and the places people go and escape to while floating is just as endless….and yet in today’s world we think something as simple as laying back and floating couldn’t be enough to change one’s life- it’s just too simple. There’s not enough working parts or hoops I have to jump through. Humans tend to make things too difficult and then struggle to believe things could be so easy. Floating is effortless. Floating is simple. Salt plus water…..that’s it.
Now there’s definitely a chance I was sleep deprived, possibly bordering on some delusional state brought on by lack of sleep and too much lifting of 50 pound salt bags. With any luck, people will remember, hopefully while they’re floating: sometimes in life, real change can happen when you simply lay back and float.