TESS CARCALDI

I believe rainy days in moderation are good for the soul.

Sure, sunny days are great, but there’s something about waking up on a Sunday morning to the soft patter of rain on your window that just puts your mind at ease–in a way you didn’t know you needed. Every once in a while, it’s nice to spend a day cozied up under soft blankets, watching the raindrops race down the glass while you warm your hands on a hot mug of peppermint tea. Sunny days are great, but unexpected lazy, rainy days just seem necessary.

But lately, life feels like a rainy day every day–even when the sun is shining. In March, what we considered “normal” life came to an abrupt halt, and ever since, it feels like we’ve been stuck in a storm we never could have predicted way back on January 1st when we counted down from ten and entered the new decade filled with hope and promise.

Since March, we’ve been swept up into a whirlwind of anxiety, fear, constant worry, loneliness, confusion, and sadness. And we don’t know when this storm will end. It’s as though the universe has forecasted rainy days indefinitely.

So, we’ve hunkered down, just trying to survive and waiting for this storm to pass because most days, that’s all the strength we have to do.

But what if instead of waiting for the storm to pass to see a sunny day, we created the sunshine for ourselves?

Recently, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes (thanks, Tamra!):

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

–Vivian Greene

I love the image that forms in my mind when I read this quote. I see yellow sundresses dancing around my legs. I feel dewy green grass tickle my bare feet. I look up and see rain droplets free-falling from the clouds above and hear them patter, patter, patter on the ground around me. Dandelions and purple wildflowers sway with me to a rhythm only I can hear. And my laughter is carried away by the wind, decrescendoing to soft giggles and mere whispers that maybe, just maybe, might inspire someone to do the same.

I also love it for its message. Life can change in an instant, without warning; we saw this first-hand back in March. We are enduring the severest of storms at the moment, one that has impacted our lives significantly and that will continue to impact our lives significantly for years to come. But I think one of the biggest lessons we will learn after enduring this storm together is not only how quickly we need to be able to adapt to a new way of life, but how to create our own rays of sunshine that will peek through the darkest of clouds and give us our own glimmers of hope in a storm without end.

We must learn to dance despite the storm engulfing us in order to survive. It’s OK if all you can do to cope every day is get out of bed. It’s OK to get swept up into the whirlwind of negative feelings this storm has brought. This is all normal. But it’s also OK to create our own sense of happy every day, even if that moment of happiness is brief.

Do what you need to do to make this indefinite storm seem bearable, whether that’s baking a cake, reading a book, putting a puzzle together, or even dancing in the rain. Find happiness in your morning cup of coffee, in the watercolor sunsets, in the chirping songs of birds outside your window. These small moments of happiness add up and make it feel as if life isn’t just passing us by. Simply find a way every single day to make life seem a little more normal and to make the storm seem smaller.

For me, that might just be throwing on a yellow sundress, running outside barefoot, and twirling amongst the dandelions and grasses of green to a beat only my heart knows.