Storms and Boats

By Daria Campbell

During the Pandemic a good friend of mine was telling me how people were all losing their minds around her and when they finally were exhausted discussing it they would say, “At least we are all in the same boat.” To which my friend would reply, “We are all in the same Storm, but we are all in different boats.” I thought this was so wise. I feel like this is the case both physically and metaphorically.

Now that the pandemic is over and we all made it through, some better or worse than others, I feel like we should think about the lessons learned from it for when the next “Storm” comes. What does your boat look like?  Was it a canoe? Was it a rowboat?  Was it a garbage barge? And if you cannot figure out what your boat looked like physically think of how your boat was manifested mentally even spiritually? How did your boat handle during this storm?

Did you fall apart? (The door from the Titanic) Did you handle the lockdowns and found new things about yourself while in isolation that allowed you to reinvent yourself? (A speedboat) Were you just stuck? (A cruise ship that has lost power in the middle of the ocean) Did you gain weight from the boredom and stress? (A tugboat) Did you find you grew closer to people realizing that you didn’t have access to them like you used to? (A sailboat) Did you appreciate all you have (a yacht) or did you whine and complain hoping everything would go back to normal (a dinghy).

I am just using some examples, but you get the idea. And please understand I am not judging anyone. We all had to go through the same storm and even if you are still in it I only hope the other side is so much better and brighter.  Sure, it is going to be different, isn’t any landscape different after a storm?  But you can do it. I believe you can make it. None of us were prepared for the Storm but we made it through the best we could.

So, if another Storm comes, let us be as ready as we can be.  I will meet up with you in my boat and you in yours and we will encourage each other until the storm passes and ends. Never give up hope.