Isla de Barú, Cartagena, Colombia. 2018

“Ready or not, here I come, you can’t hide.” That’s what the storm says. That’s what time says. That’s what nature says. (That’s what The Fugees say).

Well, we can try to hide, but not well enough. Sometimes it’s better to just stay out in the open, where we find ourselves vulnerable and forced to face the changes. Hiding from these changes will only make us feel small, because we were afraid. Also, because we’d be left with a mountain of “shoulda, coulda, wouldas.” In hiding, especially from the storm, we lose out on the universe’s offer to cleanse us of anything that no longer serves us. All it wants to do is lighten our load. Free us of conscious and subconscious burdens. It wants to condition us to become fearless, and embrace change. The storm; the change in weather is just a metaphor otherwise, of the possibilities in life.

The oceans run deep, and at times they rise up. They become stormy, because there’s a sort of tension that needs to be released. We, as humans, have oceans of emotions. They run deep. They become stormy, because there are sorts of tension that have a need to be released. We have to face those storms to move on, to grow, to become stronger.

It’s all temporary. The weather, our feelings, our circumstances. When we embrace that, it’s likely because we have not forgotten about our sunny days. We have not forgotten the rainbows. We have not forgotten how clean the air has become after the storm. We have not forgotten the pleasure of breathing easy.

We can’t expect the sun to shine on our days, and not have the water rise as well. It’s a responsibility. We all have rhythm, we all move. It’s in how we interpret our experiences, that transform our livelihoods.

We are the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the comings and goings, because we’re alive. We are supposed to dance. We are living art. So, whether the weather is stormy, sunny, or sorta funny, be fearless. Weather, the weather. Rise up.