It's Raining, It's Pouring

1. Sweatshirts are perfect for chilly weather.
2. Milk is necessary.
3. It's a sad day when one runs out of Tang.
4. Don't forget rain boots.

For the past few weeks, I have been volunteering at a local elementary school in their Spanish immersion program. I was placed in a classroom of 2nd and 3rd graders and boy, has it been interesting. I think I have learned Spanish more than I have taught it.

When I got to the school this morning at 8:00am, it was just starting to storm. The teacher was trying to teach the kids some new vocabulary words, but every single one of them was distracted by the approaching storm. Then suddenly, there was a thunder clap and quite a few of the kids jumped and started jabbering on about the storm. Naturally, the teacher became frustrated and told me to help her close the blinds on the windows. Her theory was, "If they can't see it, they won't think of it." The storm raged on outside and the class day continued. I left at 10:00am, which meant I had to walk to my car in the rain. I was only wearing flats for shoes and let's just say my feet became quite wet. I made it back to my dorm, but not without being drenched with water.

Some of the people around me are going through some rough times. They are not only battling their internal demons, but there seems to be a storm raging outside of them. For me, when I'm going through situations like this, I feel nearly helpless. My mind plays a mantra of "I just can't do this" - I can't handle my own demons and deal with the storm around me at the same time. Sometimes all I need is for someone to shut the blinds to the storm, calm me down, and make me focus on the task at hand: myself.

But shutting the blinds doesn't make the storm disappear - it only masks it for a while so you can figure things out in yourself before running out into the storm. And if you were to ignore the outside forever, how would you know if the storm has passed and it's sunny again? How will you know if the storm did any damage and needs repair? While closing the blinds to the storm may help for a while, it is only temporary.

And when you do run out into the storm, which I highly recommend, wear rain boots. Sure, we can wait until the storm passes, but why wait when you can move forward, experience new things, learn from the rain, and have the dirt be washed off by it (ever notice how when you go through tough times, the little petty things don't seem to matter after a period of time?).

Sometimes the rain does come, but there's always a rainbow, something to be learned.

Peace!

-Nicole

A Question

1. Striking a set for a play is fun... especially if you get to kick things down.
2. Rainy days are not always bad.
3. Some songs need to be listened to over and over again.
4. Ask questions. It's ok.

My theatre professor is obsessed with questions. He constantly tells us to ask questions, even if it seems irrelevant. I partially believe he just wants more opportunities to tell his crazy stories, but I also believe he has a valid point. Life is a bunch of questions. And don't we want to live life?

I used to be terrified to ask questions when I was with peers. I never wanted to seem dumb or naive. So, I tended to keep my questions to myself. I also never really asked questions when I was with adults. Sure, in class, I asked questions, but in conversation with adults I never really wanted to ask anything, again because of the fear I would be viewed as dumb.

I've noticed when I encounter someone who always asks questions at the appropriate times, I tend to view them as intelligent and curious, which is very different from how I think people view me when I ask questions. Just a thought.

When we are younger, we ask a ton of questions. Everything is a mystery and everything is new; we want and need to explore everything, so we ask questions. What happens that causes us to stop asking questions when we grow up? I think fears get in the way. I was reading a book for my writing class and the author, Chuck Klosterman, stated, "The more we know, the less we are able to feel." It seems when we are younger, we feel the world. We don't learn it, we simply feel it. Life wasn't about facts; it was about how we related to everything around us. We felt everything.

Why can't we go back to feeling the world? If life is questions and we want to live, then living is questioning. We won't grow unless we learn and feel the world around us. And what better way to grow and feel than to ask questions?

Don't be afraid to just ask. You may find the response interesting.

Peace!

-Nicole