One of the metaphors that has been helpful for me to hold onto that I picked up early in my time here was the “Eye of the Hurricane”. When life or a situation or a family dynamic feels like it is swirling around us and out of control, the calm in the eye of the hurricane is a place where peace can be found in the chaos. And not that I can’t get pulled out into the chaos sometimes but to offer a difficult situation or a family or a group of staff a bit of calm amidst all the swirling is something I strive to be. And when I am in a swirling bit of chaos myself… when feelings are swirling around or anxiety or fear are swirling around inside me I gravitate to the people who can be the “eye of the hurricane”, a calming steady presence, for me.
I hope the metaphor of the Eye of the Hurricane, calm at the center of the storm, will be an aspirational one for you too. The calm amidst the chaos. Each of us can be that for one another.

A poem for inspiration:

Eye of the Hurricane

Strong.
Over every word in every book,
The one I am proud to say defines me,
Is strong.
My life has been a storm,
An everlasting hurricane of destruction,
And dark gray clouds.
The winds constantly throwing things from one place to another,
The rain beating down like bullets,
Breaking things,
Crushing them.
The flood is the worst part though.
It fills every crack,
Every inch,
Every space it can trying to take away all the air
But,
I am strong.
I will admit that for awhile the winds tore to me different places,
The rain crushed me,
And the floods,
Well lets just say I was drowning for awhile.
That flood water is dark and cold,
There is no air.
The suffocation of the flood water was the worst feeling of all
But,
I am strong.
Eventually I swam,
I fought against the waves and took a breath.
I didn’t let the rain crush me,
Or the winds take me in any direction they blew.
I took control.
I became the calm in the storm.
I became the eye of the hurricane.
I rose because I am strong.
I didn’t let the current pull me under.
I’ve been through many hurricanes,
And I’ll go through more,
But I am strong,
I will continue to be the calm in the storm,
I will continue to be the eye of the hurricane.

Samantha Pappas

May you be the calm that you seek and that the world seeks in these times.

Blessings,
Rev. Michelle DeCoste