Star Bright Community Stories

A Collaborative Resource for Non-Profits, Churches, Businesses, and Individuals Who Provide a Public Benefit.

As a girl from Ohio, a Buckeye, I understand hibernation. Not only do I
understand it, but it’s part of my DNA, my lived experience, my way of life.
As we all know…we have been living under a cloud of gray. A deluge from
the sky and all I want to do is hunker down and be home. This feels
comfortable and normal for me. Dealing with the moment and tolerating
what Mother Nature’s wrath and intentions are. Like it or not it is what it is
and how we choose to deal with it is our choice. I don’t even know how
many days this rain has been going on, but how can so much water fall
from the sky and continue on for many more days to come? It’s a quandary
to me.

It’s Friday night. I am sipping on some wine and I’m sitting out on my
back patio listening to the rain continue to pour down. The backyard is in
different stages of flooding. I’m curious what my eyes will see in the
morning. It transforms my landscape, moment to moment. I understand that
I have no control over the situation and I’m good with that. It is a lesson in,
there’s nothing I can do about it, which is almost a relief. I feel good about
not having control. I’m sitting on a cozy chair, under a blanket in the corner
of my patio and choosing to just sit in the moment. Most prominent is the
sound of the rain and wind but if I listen, really listen, I hear the pattern of
the intensity of the both. I’m also hearing the chimes singing because the
wind is giving it permission to do so. My eyes see the glimmer of my solar
lights who haven’t seen the light of day in days, trying hard to give me a
flash in the night of their existence. I see the hanging art dance and sway.
It’s so soothing and stimulating all at the same time.

This is hibernating. Hunkering down, coping with the elements and
appreciating all the nurturing that is going on. Our land is being saturated in
preparation for the next season and the next. The beautiful cycle of life. I
can also feel the nurturing going on inside of me. The comfy feels of
recalling my childhood, and the presence of my Parents and siblings, safeand warm in our home. The confinement of it all and finding something productive to do…or do nothing at all. I’m hibernating! Figuring it out and looking forward to the moment again when the sun shines on my face and warms my body, because that’s when appreciation steps in and magnifies how blessed I am and it reaches to the depths of my heart and fills me with
gratitude. It helps me to not take things for granted. People have changing
seasons in their bodies as well. Take the time to experience it. Allow
yourself to prepare for the next one by nurturing the current one.
I hope you are finding some comfort while you hibernate!
It’s good for the soul!