Enduring the Storm

"When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person

who walked in.  That's what this storm's all about."

Haruki Murakami

Thunderous clouds are swiftly skimming the sky.  They seem so close to the ground, but the severe wind distracts me.  Night will be falling soon, I worry, as the rain goes sideways.  I watch the lightening strike and plainly hear the crack hit a large wooden fence as it is flattened to the ground.

The power goes out enhancing the stored fears that I have been harboring for weeks.  Such a helplessness to watch Mother Nature wreak gushing waters and devastating winds.  Holding my lighted candle, the flame dances for my attention.

As I sit in my favorite chair, wrapping my quilt around me, I am painfully aware of having no control over any part of life.  I turn my heart to those who are acting beyond my comprehension, praying for compassion towards them.  My need to have some layer of understanding is let go, and I simply acquiesce to detach through prayer.

Drama Not Mine

"The sky grew darker,

painted blue on blue,

one stroke at a time,

into deeper and deeper 

shades of night."

Haruki Murakami

The words upon the page were quickly absorbed, but not fast enough to keep my heart from turning stone cold. The comments were hurtful even though they stemmed from over a decade ago.  They were just as untrue as they were during the incident, but I still gasped for air.

Anger was my first response followed by the horror knowing only one side of a story was being told and the artist painting the picture was not making me look very attractive at all.  Her personal anger absorbed her attention denying her the lesson at hand.

Life happens to us and we have the choice to stumble or propel.  Learning from our experiences, especially the painful ones, we eventually pivot towards the light.  How long it takes us to see the light is not as important as finally embracing what we were meant to learn.  This drama does not belong to me, and so I let it go.