This morning I was thinking about 2 events that went on-rain or shine. One was the Chalk the Block event held at the Provo Riverwoods; the other a planned outdoor wedding up at a Sundance cabin for my fellow RT and office mate. Both events could not be "rained out" or re-scheduled-even if they were happening in less than ideal autumn weather. I referenced both of these events for my group yesterday about managing disappointments. I asked the kids how they would go on if their dreams and plans were doused and drenched by forces they could not control. I had them consider what types of rain storms blow through their life dampening their spirits and how they cope.
Though I'm sure the Chalk the Block artists are inspirational every year, interviewing the die-hards provided powerful examples of resilience. These artists-many high school and college students had spent hours, even days on their pastel chalk drawings only to see their labors washed away by the rain. They came prepared to protect their art with tarps, duct tape, tents, canopies, leaf blowers, brooms-anything-as they labored to salvage their drawings...yet the rain kept coming. It didn't seem to let up-it kept pooling up, seeping under the protective coverings. It was perfectly understandable how some of these artists quit and went home. However, it more surprising to see all the artists that literally went "back to the drawing board" to do their artwork over and over again. Some reported going to their cars, crying, letting it all out, regrouping, and returning to their parking space to start again. They were cold, haggard, and worn out physically and emotionally. How do you find the strength to keep going when things don't seem to let up?
By the time our students were touring the artwork, the rain had stopped. The artists were making progress painstakingly redoing their work. When asking the kids to consider what they had learned, they reported being inspired by the patience, persistence, and passion of these artists. They saw examples of people who cried then tried again, who were passionate about art-who are driven to create-getting in the zone to work 11 hours straight; who honored loved ones and their memories by depicting them in their art, who shared a part of themselves and what's important to them to make the world a more beautiful place-if only for a brief moment.
As we drove back to campus I pointed out the sun shining through the clouds and how in a half hour, our RT would get her outside wedding. It wouldn't be perfect-but it wouldn't be raining. It would be held in the forest, not in a tent. Though she had been so anxious about her perfectly planned event being ruined-she had gotten her break. As I drove up and drank in the spectacular sunset and autumn colors, I couldn't help think the green, yellow, orange, and red leaves seemed more vibrant after the storm-how the sunset was particularly dramatic as it danced off the clouds. I parked the car and made it to the dance floor to witness my sweet co-worker like a fairy princess in her fairy like forest kingdom. She looked absolutely stunning surrounded by her friends and family. I cried. I was happy to capture the image in my heart. She was as inspirational as those chalk artists. It was just what I needed.
The turn in the weather seemed to mimic my own depressed mood. I was so sad this week. Like the gloomy clouds, colder temperatures, and incessant rainfall, I too was crying-not because I was spiritually moved, but because I was sad. So sad and disappointed. Sad for personal failures with work, home, and church, sad for my circumstances, sad for my children's heartaches, sad about other people's choices as well as my own. Sad and unmotivated to keep going. I felt like canceling everything and staying in bed, and doing nothing-it's a rain out.
When a car accidently clipped me this week while riding my bike and kept on driving without noticing, I burst into tears like the crying clouds above me. It seemed to represented exactly how I felt lately-invisible, alone, bent out of shape, stopped in my tracks, aimless, out of place and beat up. Yet just when I feel like the rain is never going to let up, something reminds me that the sun eventually breaks through the clouds-the rain stops just enough to finish crying, dust myself off, and get back to work-even if it's redoing my artwork-my lifework for the upteenth time. There will be those perfect autumn days when everything seems right and I'm soaring with the hawks while riding the zip line at Sundance but I realize that weather can change rapidly. Each day is my main event and it will go on-rain or shine.
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