Life’s Storms Reveal What We Need

I’ve lived in the Ozarks for a decade and though I’ve heard stories about days-long power outages (or even ones that last *shudders* for more than a week), I’d never experienced one. As our well runs on electricity, I admit that it was one of my fears, because how could I store enough water for the horses. This past week it happened. The snowstorm that was forecast brought not just several inches of snow, but snow so wet it was like a frozen slush falling from the sky. It stuck to power lines, to trees, even to the cross beams of my chicken run and brought them all crashing down.

Thankfully the humans were fine, and though the house got down to about 40 degrees, the pets (including my bearded dragons!) were fine. The horses, chickens, and pigs, had enough water to last, and the power was out a total of 3 days. And though the storm brought some inconvenience, it also brought some amazing insight and clarity the kind that I couldn’t have gotten without it.

Do I believe everything happens for a reason? Not necessarily, but this sure helped clarify some things.

I had the BEST mental health I had experienced in probably close to twenty years. In fact, our first full night without power, laying there under seven blankets and about five or six cats, I had the best sleep I’d had in a very long time. It was, in fact, the first night I didn’t have a PTSD nightmare in probably fifteen years or longer. My days were spent doing farm chores (feeding, checking on water) and laying under blankets cuddling with the kitties. I didn’t really have the focus to read and of course without electricity there was no social media or computer work and for the first time in over fifteen months, I actually had days off from my day job where I didn’t have to worry about doing all the work from my “day off” and that day’s work too. (I have a lot more to say about this and will do so over at Unscramblet, which is coming soon!)

Let’s just say I knew changes needed to happen and I’m still not quite sure how to make them happen, but I know what I need to do now, because I want that kind of zen, me and my kitties and my horses and able to take care of my own needs and not have too many worries (I mean sure we had no power, but also, getting it back online wasn’t MY job. My job was to care for the homestead and my spouse and myself, which I did very well!) and move forward with what I want out of life.

Sometimes storms happen and they create a landscape so sparse we can do nothing except see the reality in front of us. That’s what this snow storm did for me, and I am eternally grateful. I am more grounded. I am more determined. And I am excited to see what the future will bring.

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