Nostalgia & Anticipation

It seems appropriate for me that it is stormy this whole week, the last week I'll be be spending in this beautiful house that has been my home for the past four and a half years. During the time that my life's journey has been intertwined with Adam's, I feel as if this old house celebrated our joy with us, caressed our spirits during the stormy times in our relationship, and gently held me while I found my feet again after our ship was finally wrecked.
I love storms; I love storm clouds and that special light that only occurs during a storm. I love the chaotic energy of the wind. I believe that rain is a blessing; it is destructive and it nurtures growth. And, like everything else, it is transitory. There is that building tension before the wild winds hit, and, when it moves on, it gifts us with a sense of calm in a slightly changed world, regardless of how gentle or devastating those changes are.
I knew what I wanted to say in this week's Pic, but hadn't decide on what image to use to convey my mood. Halfway through writing this that special light suddenly came out and I knew that my pic was waiting for me at the beach. When I got there I found myself crying softly with the clouds, and with the winds, and with the waves; a simple release, sans analysis or concious reason. So many of us feel uncomfortable with crying, just as we do with anger, hurt, and all the so-called negative feelings; we label them "bad" and take measures to stop them, in ourselves and in others, whether it’s gently or by force. The truth is that our feelings and experiences are neither good nor bad, they just are, and we can only grow from allowing ourselves to fully experience difficulty, and allowing ourselves to experience full release, letting all our emotions flow on their way through us, just as they are, rather than damming them up and attempting to modify them into something we think we want to feel. (At this point, my super-psychic antique iPod played Leo Kotke's Last Steam Engine Train (this guy is insanely good - have a listen http://youtu.be/-E_s4vQJx-k!) and my body picked me up and we danced a manic, humorous dance, and, coming back to my laptop, I'd like to take back what I said in the last sentence about neither good nor bad... it's all good!)
But back to houses and transitions: I am going to be somewhat transitory for the next two months until I move into my new home, and I am actually grateful to have this space between the wild and wonderful storm of my life that this house represents for me, and the unpredictable life-weather awaiting me in my new one. When I think of all the places I've called home in my life (thirty-two of them!), each one has it's own intangible, yet strongly unique, emotional flavour; I don't yet know what flavour Adam's and my home will have, but I suspect it will be a soothing one.

Between our house and the beach is this house, posing perfectly under its cloud for me today...

... and turning around, the beach a calm moment of the storm

Thank you for listening. Thank you for your enjoyment of my images and of my words. Although there are many of you that I have not met in person, just so you know, you all form part of a special force (the kind in Star Wars rather than Gulf wars) in my life!
Big love...