Walking in the Rain

You know those scenes in movies or shows? Where the character is trying to figure out why they have been feeling down? Or where they are trying to reconnect to life because they feel so disconnected? It always starts with the character walking on the street and it is raining. WATER droplets pelt the umbrella of the character, and the dreary sky makes us viewers feel the negative emotions all around us. And then the character stops. The character looks up at the sky and realizes that they just do not care enough if they get wet. In fact, it might even be what they deserve. So in a moment of decision, they drop their umbrella and let the rain fall over their face. They get pelted with WATER. They close their eyes. And they laugh. That is right, they laugh. And somehow, their sadness or disconnect washes off of them with the rain.

I find it ironic that we often try to avoid the rain with umbrellas and coats, when it often is the very thing we need to feel alive again.

A few years ago I was gifted an Apple Watch. I was so committee to "closing the rings" everyday, that I would literally stop everything in the dead of winter at 9:00pm and walk the block just to close a ring. Even if it was freezing, I could not go to bed without closing all of my rings. It was a problem. I have since parted ways with this watch for my own sanity, but I learned something in that time I "closed the rings" … I learned to walk in all types of weather. Rain. Shine. Snow. Darkness. Wind. I walked, regardless. Now, I still walk regardless of the weather when I need it.

During this season of confusion and disconnect, I have found myself in those rainy movie scenes. I have found myself walking, in the rain, trying to not get wet and then I realize I deserve to. I deserve to feel the rain pelt my skin. I need to feel the WATER wash over my face because I need to feel alive. Because feeling LOVE again may be as simple as feeling the WATER wash over your skin. It may be what I deserve.

Do you need to walk in the rain?