Cracked Pot Meditations – Rain

Meditation for March 19th, 2016

Rain

People love the sun. They feel like they need it, and in some ways they do. People look out the window to see rain they sigh and feel trapped and stuck inside. The sun soothes a person even if they have no plans outside. Now that it has been nice the last few days I keep hearing things like how it is actually sunny today, it’s nice to have some sun for a minute, and it’s not raining. Something bothered me inside myself about why people were so against rain. I took it to my meditation chambers and focused.

It isn’t going to be sunny and warm everyday. If you moved somewhere that has a temperate tropical climate, it is going to rain. Rain happens a lot when it isn’t sunny. Sun is nice, but if it is sunny everyday, you find yourself in a brown dry dying community like LA or Phoenix. These cities were built somewhere where it doesn’t rain ever and because of that they are ecological nightmares sucking water up from neighboring communities. There wasn’t supposed to be a city in those places, but yet people feel like they need sun everyday, green perfect lawns, pools in their backyards and landscape.

People move to cooler wetter climates and just can’t cope. They need umbrellas and everything that comes out of their mouth during the long cold dark wet winters is how they don’t know if they can do another winter here. It is just rain. It is making our water supply plentiful and delicious, the forest is green and people are stuck in their homes being creative. Buy a nice rain jacket and accept that you are going to live in a constant state of shower.

Rain is the life giver. Rain is the gods’ gift to us so that we may grow and nurture the earth. Rain is the life force that keeps us alive. The earth is keeping us from either burning up from being too close to the sun or freezing from being too far, so the sun just wants to kill us, and actually it does kill us by giving us cancer. The sun literally is trying to kill you and you want to bitch about the rain because you can’t post up at the river shirtless and creep on babes.

The rain can make us grateful for the sun when we don’t see it. As a native Oregonian, when the sun is out we take full advantage. If it’s over 45 degrees we get out our shorts and flip-flops. We surf. We keep a vest jacket close at hand for the cooler evening to keep our core’s warm, but we sure don’t put pants on. Too cold for sandals, it’s okay, we can put socks on and still wear our sandals.

Intolerant of the rain is a sign of a spiritual handicap. The inability to cope with certain weathers and wanting it to be perfect all the time is a sign of extreme selfishness because you don’t bother to think about the consequences of a 365-sun year. You aren’t even being affected by the water shortage we do have due to lack of rain. You are so incredibly egocentric that you want the climate to actually adapt to your personal needs. It’s time to learn to love the rain.

If you’re sitting here this next week after such a beautiful couple of days bitching about the rain, please pack up and move somewhere else where it is sunny all the time and see if you like it. It never rains in Dallas, Texas or Tulsa, Oklahoma. Enjoy the sun there, weakling.

Prayer

Ra,

I know that you’re there beyond the grey ceiling,

I NEED it to be sunny today.

It has been raining and raining and raining.

Now I’ve not seen the sun in three whole days.

I’m losing it.

I can only watch so much Netflix.

I wish I had an imagination so I had more to do on rainy days,

But I don’t, I’m from California where no one has imaginations.

I came here to Portland, Oregon two years ago,

So I could work at this coffee shop,

And work on my art.

I haven’t started doing any art,

But now rent is getting too high for me to take enough time off to do any anyway.

I can’t be inspired to do art if it’s raining all the time,

And I have to make latte art all the time.

Please just be sunny for a few days.

I promise to start riding my bike again.

Kayaking again.

Walking more.

Driving less.

Hanging out in dark bars every night even if it is really sunny out.

I promise to not wear all black all the time.

I will praise you, Ra, if you can combat the gloom of this place.

I met a man who had moss for armpit hair, shrooms in his pubes and mold in his beard.

Amen.

Craft

To really adapt to the rain, you must learn to love the rain and that means going out in it. You must have the right accessories first. The rain jacket is the most important thing living in a rainy climate needs to have. It needs to be light because the rainy season actually is heavier in the spring and early summer, so walking around in 60 + degree weather in a heavy winter rain jacket becomes cumbersome and uncomfortable. You don’t need to spend an arm and leg to get a comfortable rain jacket, so don’t splurge because you will probably not live here for too many years unless you are really cool or a huge asshole.

Next is learning to take your stuff with you. That means finding a durable backpack. This is a great place to carry layers in case it is colder than you thought it would be or warmer and you can put stuff in there. It’s a great place to hold your books, notebooks and other artistic accessories in case you have to stop at a café. Don’t forget a phone charger because let’s be real, you aren’t going to be spending time reading, writing or drawing at the café, but looking at Facebook and Instagram.

Wearing a hat with a bill keeps the rain from blinding you as you make your way down a street and that wind starts to blow. You can pull it over your eyes and just watch your feet step by step.

Converse All Stars are the best shoes. They are not waterproof, ankle supportive or even give arch support at all, but goddamn they look cool. You will have soggy socks if you choose a canvas shoe, so use your backpack to carry a spare pair.

Reflectors. I cannot stress this enough. Most drivers in the Portland Metro area have learned to drive somewhere else and most somewhere elses don’t have pedestrians, so they just assume there is never anyone there. 86% of vehicular manslaughter cases in Portland have been from a driver who got their first driver’s license in the bay area, California. Be visible. This is the one time to let go of the gloom metal posturing and be safe.

Walk around while it is raining. Stop under trees and close your eyes and listen to the rain hit the leaves. Kick puddles. Watch the mist come over the West Hills. Stand on one of our hills and watch the clouds empty on deep SE Portland. Forget sun. This is why it is magical here. Let the people in the deserts and the swamps have their sun, we need our rain.

Goal

If you are going to live in a rainy environment, maybe adapt to it instead of just being intolerable about it. I work in a service job and all I hear is people so mad about it raining. Imagine if people felt the same way about rain as they do about the sun. We would always be happy instead of grumpy bozos needing climate to change for our own moods.

I like a dark, rainy, gloomy day. It matches my insides.