“You have traveled too fast over false ground; Now your soul has come to take you back. Take refuge in your senses, open up to all the small miracles you rushed through. Become inclined to watch the way of rain when it falls slow and free. Imitate the habit of twilight, taking time to open the well of color that fostered the brightness of day. Draw alongside the silence of stone until its calmness can claim you.” John O’Donohue

There is something about a rainy day that calms my nervous system. I feel that when I can stop and take some time to listen, it becomes a meditation for me. I love to shut off all noise in my home and sit with only the rhythmic melody of the rainfall. I keep my screen door at the back of my kitchen open in the summertime to listen to the drops as they hit the deck. Even my windows in the front of my kitchen are open, covered by an overhang above our veranda, so no water comes in. This creates a kind of surround sound as I sit in my favourite hair and stare out and watch the rain as it hits the trees and scrubs swaying in a summer wind. As a heavier downpour starts, I smell the scent of fresher air as the dry earth soaks in the moisture. I feel my breath go deeper into my lungs as I inhale the fresh air. A torrent of droplets hit the planks with so much force that it bounces off the deck like boiling water; it looks like it’s dancing. Later the parched grass, shrubs and trees seem to perk up with brilliant brighter shades of green as the day goes on. 

“Last night the rain spoke to me. Slowly, saying, what joy to come falling out of the brisk cloud. That is what it said as it dropped,” Mary Oliver

Something about a rainy day permits me to slow down, a kind of pause of sorts. I love to read books these days, nothing like curling up on a couch with a good story that I have not had a chance to finish. 

Surrendering to “what is” is a lesson I work on continuously; not consistently successful, but when I can, I feel peace. Learning to pause throughout the day and take a deep breath, and land at the moment. It’s the kind of lesson that I remind myself of every day. I have lost too much time being crazy busy, worried, or frustrated this year. It’s time for me to take a renewed perspective on life once again. Life is precious, and when I am anxious, I lose moments like watching the beauty of rainfall. To awake in the morning is magical. There is so much in every day I want to become more present too. This pandemic taught me a lot of lessons. I am glad to be awakening to the magic of nature again. Each morning is a chance to start all over again. 

I love the fact that ageing lets us know that life and time are precious. 

As Mary Oliver reminds me 

“Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? “

I intend to move into living a more fully expressed life. Which, for me, means becoming more creative; I have a bucket list of things to accomplish! I want to do more photography; I want to learn to paint, write more, dance more, laugh more, hug more. I want to take small adventures around our Maritimes meet people with broad smiles and belly laughs. Most of all, spend time with friends and family again with a new appreciation of each one of them. 

That is what I want to do with my one wild and precious life!!