Tag: Rain

Rain and Awe

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Rain is impressive in its tenderness and its force. It can be graceful and calming. Storms may also rattle our windows and send our pets scampering for shelter. It is the peaceful and gentle falling of water that I embrace today. That is the energy I am bringing to life this week. I am not pushing ahead in fury and fear. I am simply lingering in the rain. 


Feeling the water splash down on my face like a gentle blessing my awareness is of how each and every rain drop is a gift. I am lucky enough to be here to enjoy it. Breathing deep to savor this moment I do not have to rush to get to my next appointment or goal. I am hopeful and I am also patient. 

Pausing in these transitional moments allows us to reframe and refocus. When we give ourselves time to enjoy the present moment and appreciate its magnitude we are also adding to our health and wellbeing. Research shows, “awe is critical to our well-being — just like joy, contentment‌ and love.” And awe is available to all of us in our everyday lives. We need not seek it out – by spending a lot of money or traveling to far off lands, though that may inspire awe as well – we can find awe in small moments in regular life.


It is a gift to be humbled by the weather and to be reminded how very small we all are. In our smallness we are free to absorb the sensation of awe as we witness the miracle of this planet. These are the moments that make hearts sing and open us up to things that are new, simple and powerful. Wee are experiencing not just an abundance of emotion but an expansion of joy that we are finally in a position to absorb and appreciate.

Where do you find awe in your daily life?

Experiencing Awe

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Today the rain is pouring outside. Thick heavy drops splashing on the window ledge fill our home with a gentle roar. The weight of life rolling down the window panes and over the shingled roof. It feels exquisite to be inside watching the water pour and the tree limbs sway. It fills me with gratitude. We are cozy, warm, and safe. Thunder powerfully rumbles overhead. The size and shape of the clouds creating noise and energy that astounds and humbles me. To consider the magnitude of ever shifting and rolling momentum fills me with awe. 

The rain and the clouds hovering overhead, remind me of the gifts this world has to offer us. The plenty that surrounds and engulfs our daily life. We are so small in this ever expanding universe. Simple situations and worries can seem so monumental to us. And yet, from the perspective of the world these are small things. Our desires, hopes, fears – all of them are so tiny. And really, what is there to worry about? 

Petty embarrassments, moods, situations – all of these things change like the weather. In a flash of lighting the storm has moved on and our small problems are similar. Much like the temperature, rain fall, the wind, all of it can go from the thunderous and terrifying to a gentle kiss in an instant. As Pullitzer Prize winning journalist Mary Schmich tells us, “In the end the race is only against ourselves.”

It’s powerful to consider – if we are not on earth to rush to any destination or achieve some lofty goal. We may only be here for this time, the journey, and all of its twists and turns. Our role may not be to fix, solve, or remedy. Our existence my be our only purpose. Maybe that’s true and maybe it isn’t. Perhaps we too are only here for a brief moment and have no other objective than to experience the awe and wonder that is life. What is the purpose of the rain? Is it not already perfect? What if we too, are already perfect?

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Thanksgiving with Alice

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Lately I’ve been feeling behind, like I’m chasing something just out of my grasp. A lot of it is COVID and the strange twilight we are all living in that isn’t just time change, political change, or fall – not of the patriarchy this time, autumn. Life is missing the creature comforts of connection, a good friend’s laugh, the simple pleasure of sending your children out into the yard to play and trusting they will be safe, are all riddled with guilt and implications. Our lives are also lacking something to look forward to, the promise of a new and better day.

And that is what is out of my grasp; groundedness, faith, trust, and balance. I’m not rushing to be anywhere and yet feel the ticking of time. Have we quarantined for 14 days? When was our last trip to the store?

This space is intended to create room and reserve attention for peace, hopefulness, and growth. It is designed to be light and optimistic but sitting by the window looking out at naked trees and a grey rainy day I am reminded that dark days and rest are a necessary part of life. For spring to come and flowers to bloom, there must be time to nourish and be at rest. There must be time for rain and cold and stillness. And that is the meaning I’ve been seeking.

This Thanksgiving will be a holiday unlike any I have spent before. From childhood it has been a day of long drives and the refrain, “You can get anything you want, excepting Alice, at Alice’s Restaurant,” inexplicably playing on the car radio annually despite my never hearing this song any other time of year or in any other place. It is a time for crowded tables, family gossip, and dinner twice in one day – usually.

Tomorrow will begin a new tradition something quieter, a day of stillness instead of movement. A day of familiar songs, maybe Pandora will find Alice’s Restaurant magically tomorrow too, I’ll put on a Thanksgiving playlist and see what happens. Instead of chasing after anything or anyone just beyond my grasp, I will be holding dear the people in my family unit and truly listen to their words, the pillars of my home and my life celebrated exactly where I always find them, surrounding our dinner table.