“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” – Nora Ephron
Let me begin by saying that yesterday afternoon I managed to successfully retrieve my long-awaited package! I looked like a rat who had been put through the wringer when I arrived but I didn’t care! What a joy it was to open that precious box filled with my summer clothes that I had left behind in Berlin! There is just something so special about getting a care package from someone you love.
I’ve lived a life where care packages have always played a central role, whether it was during the years that my parents and I were transferred from country to another, or later on with my own family. as we became expat gypsies with no permanent address. Sometimes it was food, others it was something more essential but incredibly comforting by the mere fact that it came from “home”. This is definitely not the first time I received clothes as a care package, and probably won’t be the last, but to find the items so lovingly rolled up I the way I taught my daughter to pack when she was a Girl Scout made me smile broadly. It was absolutely worth the wait!
The shots of the day clearly have nothing to do with the care package at first glance. Bear with me… there are inexplicable coincidences in our lives that make you sit up and shake your head in wonder, and then you realise that the chain of events was intentional on the part of the universe, with everything falling into place in some bizarre manner. Had the package not been delayed so long, it would never have arrived on a day when I was full of rage following an incident at work. I was still shaking when I left the office and had to dig deep into my self-control reserves to contain my tears. I knew that if I didn’t leave when I did, a storm would unleash in a time and place I would regret. Self-preservation at all costs.
As I stood at the train station enveloped by a suffocating heat, the sweat trickled down my back and I thought to myself, well done, sweat drops instead of tears today. Progress.
I skipped dinner and instead sat among my unpacked clothes, unrolling each item with infinite care, and simply sat among the mess. I needed that little bit of chaos to make me smile again, and decided I was not going to put them away just yet or run the washing machine. This was my version of an emotional hug in the absence of my favourite huggers. God I could have used a strong hug yesterday, no words, just a gesture to reassure me that everything was going to be fine and that I was safe to fall apart in those arms.
Back to the two images – the first was shot recently, and what I was really after was the cloud blanket that contrasts dramatically with the calm water. The sailboat just anchors the air and water elements, driving home the point that you can either try to hide from the storm by doing nothing and still get hit, or sail into it with all that you have and test what you are truly made of.
The second image is not new to those who follow FrogDiva Photography. I shot this back in June 2016, on one of my last days in Bangkok. The monsoon rains had just began and a storm had raged the night before. But when dawn arrived it brought with it a new covenant, hope that the new days was beginning and I would be fine. Storms are brief, but with a power to change your life in the blink of an eye. Let them happen; rise above them and don’t be a victim.
FrogDiva Thoughts 