Tornado

Every tornado starts with these dark, alluring clouds that loom over the horizon in such a way that renders you unable to look away, yet you feel the urge to run and take cover just in case there’s disaster to come. These captivating funnel clouds spin and spin until they touchdown on solid ground, where they embark on their path of destruction– unearthing everything in their path until they run out of power and dissipate into the sky... just as quickly as they descended.

Some people are like these tornados. At first, they’re intriguing and steal your attention, making it hard to re direct your focus. So you stay and watch…. Until it’s too late to take cover and they’ve already sucked you in. Round and round you spin, in some sort of vicious jive, losing your sense of up, down, wrong or right. Too disoriented to enjoy the dance, too dizzy to fight your way out.

As they continue to spin, they uproot everything that once was firmly founded and well-grounded. Connection…affection… trust… loyalty… decency… it’s all ripped up and shredded in mid air. Half of the damage isn’t even caused by the tornado itself, but from the spinning debris that collides into things: your reputation… friendships… family ties… faith. Roofs of protection and security get blown off, leaving you scrambling for some other type of sanctuary. Anything that seemed permanent now becomes a memory.

Afterwards– calm. Utter destruction. No evidence of any previously existing foundation. Shards of shame cover every inch of the ground before you. Regret looms thick in the air as you sit, bewildered. Silently wondering if anything from the past existed, yet accepting your new future, chosen for you with no foreknowledge of your own. Yet, here you sit, atop the aftermath.

Rebuild. Re Center. Re Focus.