In the Eye of the Hurricane
We are in the midst of a family vacation—a final hurrah, of sorts, of summer.
We're in the Hamptons, where we lived for many years—my favorite landscape and quintessential representation of beach and summer—and chock full of memories and meaning for us.
While we planned our visit well before Henri set its sight on the Northeast, as things go, we arrived a day before the hurricane made landfall directly on Long Island.
We spent much of our first day here talking about and prepping for the coming storm. As we're on the water, we witnessed frantic people boarding up, sand-bagging, and securing boat lines for those boats too big to be brought on land. You can imagine the damage that an unmoored boat can inflict in a hurricane. Both gas stations had lines stretching for blocks with traffic officers managing the chaos. People panicking, scrambling, and fleeing. Both stations ran out of gas.
Henri was set to hit around 4am, but when I awoke yesterday, it was clam. Looking to the sky for the impending deluge, I found myself humming the Hamilton lyrics:
"In the eye of the hurricane
there is quiet,
for just a moment,
a yellow sky"
It reminded me of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy motto as quoted by Donna Karan. "Finding the calm within the chaos."
The modalities of the UZIT program were tools to help people with self-care. Movement, meditation, reiki, breathwork; all used to find that calm, to BE the calm in the chaos.
Having lived out here for over a decade, I had prepped for and weathered many a storm. Luckily, Henri was mild here. Nonetheless, preparation is always good. "Luck favors the prepared." A variation of a Pasteur quote, I believe.
Yoga is also preparation. Practicing regularly and striving to embody good techniques with different modalities brings steadiness and confidence. It shores you up so you don't become unmoored and inflict damage on yourself or others.
What is an anchor for you? How do you get ready to weather anticipated and unexpected storms? How do you prepare to such that chance will favor your efforts?
Lord knows we can all use a little more calm during these chaotic times.
I wish you all a calm and peaceful week ahead.
With love,
Kari