Past the Torrent, A Flood of Emotions: Could have/not been worse... 

Virtual Rainfall: "Water always wins..." Universally acclaimed, personally experienced, also a frequent topic here...too little too much, when is it just "all right" (read on and you'll soon see)? Following a torrential rainfall around here (est. 7" in just a few hours), following an initial day of cleanup in our basement, following another, albeit mini-torrent the next day and yet another mini-cleanup, and after I finally stopped grumbling about this major inconvenience which precluded vacation plans by a day or two...I started looking around, outside and outside myself, and lo and behold, I quickly realized that, "It could have been so much worse", that we were actually one of the 'lucky' ones. For just a few zip codes over there were photos being posted of a virtual tour of a lifetime of memories being kicked to the curb, ruined by either the rainwater, sludge and, in some even more unfortunate cases, sewage backup. Simultaneously, throughout our nation and worldwide, there were a plentitude of photos depicting human misery due to either floods, erosion, or drought. My initial grumbling did not immediately transition to gratitude, but did at least prompt me to be thankful that we had not yet left our abode, for if we had been away for even a few days and upon return, upon opening the door and reflexively uttered "What's that smell?!" (see June 28th post)...Which in turn reminded me of a co-worker who had, after a very pleasant family vacation, returned to their freshly painted home, only to find that the water pressure had somehow gone awry and forced sewage out of all the wrong places...welcome HAZMAT, good-bye home sweet home, for almost a year...All of which gives 'rise' to this post which once again reflects and provokes how we all process the experience of misfortune befalling us. 

Range of Experience, Emotions: From the very first post regarding 'vicissitudes' (or, in other words, which made for a popular t-shirt in the 80's, "#^@* happens!"), I have been writing to you and reminding myself. Whether predicted with lots of precursor predictive circumstances, or suddenly without warning, we can all relate to things that have happened to ourselves, those we are close to, as well as those in more remote regions and throughout history. And have engaged you on the more major emotions of "Sadness" and "Anxiety", familiar to us well before the pandemic, frequently unwelcome travel companions throughout the past several months, but perhaps redeeming themselves a bit following my counter-intuitive offerings on behalf of, in defense of, both these underappreciated characters from "Inside Out"...

Surveying the Damage: In the midst of calamities, when we find ourselves in acute crises, we are literally called into action, to mobilize, to marshal all our internal and external resources, our individual and collective fortitude. I have cited only a few historical and more recent (which will inevitably become historical) examples of individuals who, when facing such circumstances, have acted in ways they had never deemed possible...but only upon reflection, only well after the calamity had ceased and there was a time of relative calm, to finally process all of their thoughts, emotions, actions...which in turn eventuates in an internalization and impacts on their/our larger reflections on the meaning, purpose,...On the flipside, of course, there are those who fail to act, who even become part of the problem, exacerbating calamity...the numbers of which are hard to estimate and probably not as compelling to us as those who we hold up as being stellar examples of the two characteristics of which I have presented here, cornerstones, bedrocks of Character (stronger and more immutable than reputation). Namely, Perseverance and Resilience, the former of which is necessary but not a sufficient condition for the latter. 

A Time for Every Season: Whether deliberate and conscious or less overt and indirect, we have all found ourselves, probably more so the past year or so (depending, of course, on your individual circumstances prior to and during the pandemic and other 'natural' disasters), reciting or reflecting on various parts of Ecclesiastes 3: "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven". Often recited and sung as part of a somber, tender time of reflection, offered as words of reassurance and encouragement to those even in the midst of a personal, family, or community tragedy, certainly after a loss. 

Mash-Up: Of experiences, emotions, and reflections on how you have fared, what we have shared, what is perhaps yet to come, how we can choose to process it all (as well as a common 'high ground' of this blog...'mash-ups', that is): 

"...It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall..." (Bob Dylan, 1962 from the song of the same name, regarding the current sufferings throughout the world, pollution, Vietnam War... a song of protest, a form of lament)...

"...Long as I remember the rain been comin' down                                                                                       Clouds of myst'ry pourin' confusion on the ground.                                                                                 Good men through the ages tryin' to find the sun.                                                                                       And I wonder still I wonder who'll stop the rain..." (John Fogerty for CCR, 1970, "Who'll Stop the Rain?", another antiwar song which also acknowledges people who through the ages have acted righteously to improve the lot of humanity)...

And, finally:

"Little darling, it's been a long and lonely winter                                                                                           Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here                                                                               Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo, here comes the sun                                                                      and I say it's all right..."  (George Harrison, 1969, "Here Comes The Sun", a version of which has become a personal favorite, rendered at Woodstock by Richie Havens, who also offered an improvised encore "Freedom", based on the spiritual "Motherless Child")

So, how are you/we faring these days, and how are we to engage the days to come...?                                Stay tuned; I'm not quite done here.