This past week, what with the onset of one of the biggest hurricanes our state has seen in a century, a phrase I’ve heard repeated particularly often was “the calm before the storm.” My family is from Raleigh but for the past few years, I’ve lived on Bald Head Island for the summer season, making southeast North Carolina something of a second home as well. With Florence preparing to rip through my beloved seaside towns and nearly all my local friends belligerently preparing to ride it out in their homes, I’ve been watching the news about as religiously as any paid programming and keeping a 24-hour alert constantly refreshed on my phone.
But despite the beautiful weather that persisted until the very last minute, the calm before the storm has passed, and as I write this, the pine trees beside my bedroom window are creaking in the wind. Here’s to hoping they stay up. And for all my friends who live a whopping five feet above sea level, here’s to you guys too. I’m worried, and probably rightfully so, but I’m also trying to find my own peace of mind in the middle of all this. The calm amidst the storm.
Frankly, I think that’s what we’re all looking for on a daily basis anyway, Cat 2 Hurricane or no. There’s always something of a storm going on, whether that’s feeling yourself lose control of a semester or having a family break apart or seeing a friend’s mental health crack under pressure. How and where do we find peace of mind in the middle of something like that?
Ultimately, I think the key comes down to keeping confidence in yourself and learning when to let it go. Trees are coming down and the power’s going out and there isn’t much I can do about it. The deadlines are piling up and people around me are phoning it in, probably to deal with their own personal storms, and that’s not something I can control. But the trick is that that doesn’t have to scare me. I can’t affect my situation, but I can control how I respond to it. Now I don’t mean to be naïve here and say a happy attitude can stop a flash flood or personal disaster. But I genuinely believe that keeping a solid sense of peace and perspective and is the key to a sense of security, whatever the circumstances. And when the crisis is over, your ability to respond and bounce back can be what actually affects the end of the day.
So as Florence rolls through the coast and into both of my hometowns, my takeaway is this. I have helped barricade sandbags wherever possible and moved valuables away from all my windows. I am with the people I love and I have done what I can. The rest that’s to come is out of my hands and while I’m working on knowing how to let that go and, even harder, to feel comfortable with it, it’s a start and it’s definitely my best bet at peace under pressure.