Storm Sweep
I am a lover of storms, rain and lightening, perhaps a product of living somewhere got and drought prone. I love the electric excitement in the sky. This last week a huge storm blew in with a high threat of tornado. Although nobody confirmed if small tornados touched down in the night or if it was just wind, the impact was felt. Hale stormed down on my roof, the air pressure changed in a way that felt palpable to me (An experience that being highly sensitive gets you). Something with so much power was hovering over my house, my neighborhood, and my city.
I sat in the hallway using my body as a barricade to keep my cat in the closet so she wouldn’t run or hide somewhere if in fact there was a tornado that hit the house. The animal in my own body responded to the change in environment. I knew instinctively that there was in fact a threat to my safety, and while intuitively I felt I would be fine, my body felt that responding in accordance was best.
I could hear the storm move in, first by the quiet and then by pounding of rain, hale and wind. I sat and waited, power out, phone flash light on. Earlier that day, I had swam in the river, my cheeks were still pink from sleeping in the sun. Now I wondered what truly was possible in a moments notice. It seems unfathomable that in a mere few minutes your house could be obliterated by the wild dance of wind and weather. But I know it happens.
In a short amount of time, the pressure released, the down pour stopped and I knew that the storm had passed. I emerge, with all the other neighbors with flash lights to see what damage had been done. Luckily no damage to home or vehicle occurred for me. But there was some in the area. But a large tree split and snapped most of its 25 foot body, and pummeled to the ground near my shed.
In truth, I am in awe at the power that can show up and sweep through our lives in any given moment.
I am so grateful to be in tune with my body enough to have truly felt a primal call for safety. It was, in fact, very different from the neurotic worries of my mind, most notably by the odd amount reverence it created within me. So few of us are trained to be in our bodies enough to feel such a thing, and I am grateful to have come home to the wisdom of my body years ago.
It was beautiful to realize that I am in communication with the earth, with the storms as a whole. The storm had a job to do, and she sends out her signals before her arrival in order for you to take shelter. The storm in its benevolence alerts us the best she can so she can do what needs doing.
I am in awe of the alchemy of nature, that just the right combination of weather patterns can create such wild uninhibited expression of power.
But mostly, I am admiring, the sheer potential of change to completely alter the landscape of life in a moment. Great storms wipe out the weak limbs, trees and structures. Like major change does within us. This is how nature and souls evolve. Things can be moving slowly and steadily with all sights on a certain future, and then suddenly something comes in and changes it all.
What is odd, is that while often viewed as tragic, this is in fact gracious. It clears away stagnancy and allows us to grow with more strength and for a while it lets in so much more light. While the canopy of trees I had become accostmed to had become thinner, so too had the light become brighter. And this is true with us, when the structures we were held in fall away, light enters if only we look up and no longer at what has fallen. We give what has fallen back to the earth and we fix our gaze up to the expanded horizon.
I hope most of you are in the ease of slow growth but I know at some point we will al have a storm sweep through and change us, and when you do, I hope you remember to listen to your inner knowing on how to respond and look for the grace of it all.
In Awe and Reverance,
Avery
Reminder!!!! I have another online ceremony for deep change and expansive healing. Its this coming Sunday the 19th. Hope over to the website with the link below to get your ticket!
https://www.averyvirginia.com/events