Keanuverse

I Was 16 in 1999 When Keanu Reeves Changed My Life

Follow the white rabbit

Sweet winter of ‘99, I’ll cherish your memory till the day I die.

I was obsessed with yoga and meditation back then. As obsessed as only a teenager can be. That’s how I met Stacey. She was one year older, blond, and with a shaved head. Of course, she was sexy as paradise. At the end of our first yoga session, I was in love.

It was the beginning of February 1999, and The Matrix would be coming out in the cinemas a month later. Neo and Trinity were about to change my life.

My meditation practice went sideways. Instead of following my breath, I was focused on the pulse of my throbbing dick. All my thoughts were on Stacey.

As unbelievable as it seemed to my parents, I increased my yoga hours. Stacey was extremely talented, and I wanted to impress her. Any free time I had was dedicated to yoga. I was intense.

To be honest, I don’t know how I managed that, but what helped is that I stopped masturbating. I channeled my desire for Stacey into yogic energy. And boy! How much energy I had! I barely needed to sleep during the whole winter. My body was this sort of energy hurricane that enabled any yoga positions my teachers could think of.

I was the star of the yoga club. Everybody was impressed by my sudden progression. Mid-March, my favorite teacher asked me to assist her during the lessons. I was floating on a cloud. I thought everything was possible. It gave me the courage to ask Stacey out.

We went to see The Matrix. Nothing happened during the movie; we were too mesmerized. Everything in it resonated with our metaphysical approach to yoga and meditation. With The Matrix, the Wachowskis had put our philosophy on the screen. We were watching our lives.

The setting was perfect, but I was too shy.

After the movie, we ate ice cream, drank herbal tea, and walked around for hours. The story was imprinted in our brains scene by scene, and we discussed all of them. Excited doesn’t convey what we felt. But I left Stacey at her door without even attempting a kiss.

She told me later she fell in love with this purity in me that night. Some would say it was naivety and bashfulness, but I’ll go with purity.

I went back in full yoga and meditation mode. Going at it even deeper and harder than before.

Two weeks later, I found an envelope in my locker at the yoga studio. There was a black business card, 16-point cardstock, in it. The famous message, “follow the white rabbit,” was written in golden letters.

Stacey came to the session wearing a new cross-back tank top that day. We were maybe thirty minutes in when I came to help her with a pose and saw her bare shoulder blades. She had a new tattoo there.

A white rabbit, of course.

“Nice tat,” I said. She turned her head, looked at me, and left the room. I looked at the teacher; she nodded and smiled. I followed Stacey and closed the door to the applause of the class. Turns out, everybody waited for us to become the couple of the studio.

Stacey was waiting for me behind the door.

Our kiss was a red pill moment.

Twenty-two years later, married for nineteen, owners of your yoga studio for fifteen, we’re looking forward to The Matrix Resurrections.

Fun fact, the name Stacey is of Greek origin and means Resurrection.

I love you, Stacey, every day, you’re my resurrection.

Smillew is a Medium writer who writes mainly about sex, his Medium newsletter, and his Medium referral link. No need to follow him; he’ll show up in your feed.

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