Rain, rain go away

That seems to be a little song somewhere. It seems to be our newest mantra with every thunderbolt striking early mornings or late nights. It seems to me that every year we embrace the summer season with the same shocked attitude, we seem to never remember that it does rain that heavy every year. I remember somehow ten days of rain in a row, seven days in a row, couple of recent typhoon 9 or 10 level and the list, can be extensive. The moment the sky gets dark, or the lightning hits the jungle, the astonishment in my mind remains always the same. Oh no, another storm. Storm, storm go away.

The good thing is that while I started writing , a blessed worth noticing pause is here to. The sky is on an afternoon siesta. And all that noisy band of drums and lights did go away eventually.

I am having a nice coffee now in silence so I decide to let the deep voice of Jon Batiste fill in the blanks. The music slips in slowly, almost like a light between the cracks of the window seals. I can imagine the notes slowly dancing and sending their vibrations to the right, to the left, to the front balcony, to the back of the house. It is uplifting. Same with the light slowly slowly moving in and sending their vibrations dark clouds away. The steam is far gone now, the breeze is sweet and mellow. The hum of the neighbours doing something in their workshop means life is back to normal. Even if this might be a short lived lighter sky, we take all in fully, hopeful.

Walking around the village today, I was pleased to see that I am not alone. The only line I had in mind waking up was simply”I cannot sit one more day indoors, one way or another, nature is calling.” Saying hello to drenched hikers on my slow walk around the village, there was this unspoken solidarity. Smiles were exchanged, laughter and eyes were rolled - look at my outfit, water is dripping from everything.

It is not the rain any longer in charge of how should we spend the day. It was us, moving forward and embracing it. It was a collaboration. Coffee shops doing the work, not matter the elements. Parents still taking their kids out for a nice breakfast, teachers still taking their nature walk group for a lesson.

The only difference to me this morning, was the power of our intention. The fact that things go on, the fact that we did it, just stepped out of our comfort zone and stopped whining about the un-clemency of everything in general. We go on. We have to go on.

And here, with the power of intention coming from the heart of our hearts, propelled forward with determination, it seemed to me that everything turn out be enchanting.

I am not talking about the light spreading its magic over the village.I am talking precisely about the rain making turning everything into masterpieces. The colour.

The rain has awaken the lush jungle, the plants and made them sparkle with joy. The green was greener, the pink was brighter, the reds were deeper. The vibrancy of the colours was turning heads all around.

The power of my intention and everyone else stepping in the dripping curtains of rain not only made more alive than ever, but it synchronised us with this rhythm of the elements who remain such a big mystery to us( unless you are a meteorologist and might understand precisely what is going on).

Let us continue to savour this mystery. Of the storm, of the daring power rising from inside of us, of the chain of motivation we received for all the others taking the storm by its horns and just making it a casual part of the everyday routine.

The teacher in the photo below was trying his very best to entertain the kids asked to sit on a bench for ten minutes during a boost of rainfall. The stopping motion created a little chaos first. Kids were trying to capture a space on the long bench, umbrellas mixing up and getting later untangled by rushing hands and definitely quite messy. Imagine, one second you are going somewhere and the next second you must readjust strategy and make do with whatever available. The voices are on of each other, the ponchos were dripping, the messy hair was giving away they were caught by the rain boosts more than once today. A delight in cuteness. Once they got settled on the bench, the teacher has suddenly stared telling a story, capturing everyone’s attention. He was embodying the experience, mimicking something or someone, showing something on the horizon, turning around and doing a little stand up comedy right there right then. I could not understand the story because of the language. I might say I was more engaged than the kids. But it would not be true at all. They all calmed down, they all stopped fidgeting and making room on the bench or claiming territory, they became ears and eyes only. Then the magical show ended and some feedback was even offered. The teachers at their best right there. And, with that the rain downpour ended too and the kids moved in unison on their path forward led. Harmony all over.

I was lucky enough to get shelter just in time before all the major downpours. Being outside was far more relaxing than listening to the rain from indoors. The harmonies of the natural music pieces were perfectly orchestrated. The listening was deep, refreshing, giving life to all surroundings.

There was peace.

Perhaps the mantra did work. No, untrue. The perhaps is unnecessary. The mantra created all these harmonies. Both alongside the rain and after the downpours.

The fear of the storm, the heavy rainfall was deeper inside us. The need to keep protecting ourselves is primal. The need to keep safe and indoors it is a must but so is the time to discern when to step out and meet the downpour. Meet the life, even if with baby steps and proceeding with care at first. Once the lightning and thunders were gone, there was still a way to be out there. There was still a way to perk ourselves up again from a lazy day we did not ask for.

I wonder often, when did we become so anxious at the first lighting. I wonder often, when did my courage cracked down first and took a back seat. And I know. The first time, the second time, the third time. All those times can be mapped out.

The intention though is to remember first that we are full of life and embrace all the elements as they come. The intention is to choose hope. To dig deeper than our anxiety ,the fear of noise, and start dancing to the beat of our callings.

I will leave you here with a divination card by Maria Popova, one of my ultimate blogger whose work I follow for decades now.

Maria Popova, Almanac of Birds

May our hearts open to the full range of feelings. And dance in the rain too.

Thank you for reading and being here every week.