Drinking in the Rain

"Drinking in the Rain," ©Lynne Buchanan

All Rights Reserved, Watermarked by Digimarc

We have been experiencing a period of heavy rain in Florida for the past week.  The water levels on the rivers are high and some people have been complaining about being stuck inside.  Rain is the way the earth rebalances itself after stresses like global warming, pollution, etc.  Though it can be hard to remain cheerful after many days of gloomy skies, we can change our perspective and view the rain as a way the earth cleanses itself.  There is a wonderful Native American chant that I learned is Scotland from Sandra Ingerman and which I have been chanting all week–especially when getting poured on while kayaking.  It goes like this:

I walk in beauty in a sacred way,

I walk in beauty each and every day,

Let the spirit of the fire lift your spirit higher,

Let the spirit of the earth fill your heart with mirth,

Let the spirit of the rain wash away your pain,

Let the spirit of the sky teach your mind to fly,

If the world was sunny all the time, it would dry up, get hotter, and burn.  Just look at what is happening in Arizona.  We can learn so much from the earth, as it does its best to keep sustaining life despite what humankind is doing to create more problems in the environment.  Yet, despite all these issues, we can still dream of a better future for the planet we love.   If we choose to help spread that dream, together we may still be able to turn things around.  It is our only hope.  

When I was working on optimizing this flower, which actually was taken on the Isle of Skye in the Dunvegan Castle Garden, it brought to mind a poem I read recently.  Stephen Mulhearn, a photographer and poet and owner of the Lendrick Lodge, a holistic retreat center in the Trossachs in Scotland, wrote this short piece about keeping our dreams alive:

"What is it that separates the dreamers

and gives the energy of love to their lives?

They simply choose to give water to the plant,

firstly to give life and love that blossoms flowers,

and secondly to receive the beauty and joy

that every open petal releases,

in return for the emotion we call love."

I know I choose to love life, to dream, and to open to the rain and drink in it's life sustaining properties.