When Raindrops become Food For The soul

There is a lot to be said about rain and you can start with the tacky and kitchy, sappy and nauseatingly cheesy, the obscure and dark, or the esoteric. I’ve gone through all these stages and aside from rain sometimes being an inconvenience (aka flooding or a reason to change / abort plans) I love it. Yes, it’s romantic; yes it’s gloomy sometimes; yes, it can be terrifying and even debilitating. On the other hand, it has an irrefutable cleansing power, not just in the physical sense, but emotionally and spiritually.

When I was a little girl my mother often sent me out into the garden during the pouring rain especially if I had heat rashes or prickly heat. There is an old wives tale in the Philippines that says a bath in the first monsoon rain will rid you of skin maladies, especially prickly heat, which I was very prone to. I can’t say for certain that it actually worked, but these mandatory rain showers grew on me and I looked forward to them more and more. Eventually I just volunteered to do them and learned to even play in the rain, something I passed on to my daughter as soon as she could walk.

Many of you have been following my struggles with isolation and agoraphobia, which I have vowed to overcome by hook or by crook. This week marked a turning point in this journey when I met up with a dear friend whom I haven’t seen in ages. There is something incredibly satisfying about reconnecting with someone as if so much time hadn’t passed between visits, and we were like two pieces of a puzzle that fell perfectly into place. It should have been a day to rejoice in sunshine and blue skies, but there is no humanly possible way to command Mother Nature and place a VIP order to St. Peter for good weather. Our visit was blessed by rain, lots of rain, but that just made sitting outdoors cozy and conducive to conversation.

When I got married in 1993 it rained and snowed on my wedding day. I was horrified, as my wedding dress had been painstakingly made in the Philippines, and it was a gorgeous off-the-shoulder pearl studded gown intended for the perfect nuptial weather, which in hindsight was probably not the smartest decision for an October wedding in Germany. Well dingaling shingaling! It fu%&*ng rained on that day and not only was I freezing my knickers off, but I was devastated that I had to grapple with the bad weather on top of bridal nerves. Curiously enough, I was told by all the Germans that day that rain was a symbol of good luck for a wedding, as it meant a showering of blessings. In spite of how my marriage eventually ended 25 years later, I still believe in the magic of rain blessings, and always will.

I ended the day curled up in my favourite reading chair, reading a book and looking out onto the river while the rain continued to pour. That same night I laid in bed listening to the rain as it pummelled the walls, and when dawn broke, a wonderful sense of peace came over me, as if a chasm in my soul had finally began to heal.

Blessings? Yes, the rain brought along great news from my lawyer, followed by an interesting visit to my neighbour. It turns out that we (my daughter and I) are going to be the beneficiaries of some furniture over the next few weeks, which sets a lot of plans into motion, not to mention saves me a ton of money! I was reminded once again that not all storms arrive in your life to destroy; some are meant to clear the path for you.

I leave you with this song that hit me right between the heart and the soul