As many benefits as there are to living in a small town, there are also some drawbacks. These last few weeks it feels like a heavy rain cloud has sat over top of Flagler Beach, throwing down lightning bolts and a torrential downpour of tears as my friends and neighbors seem to be wading through a flood of death and despair. I guess that’s what happens when you know someone on every block; the potential for sadness is just around the corner.
I am not ignorant to the fact that there is extreme turmoil throughout the world: killing, hunger, disease, being alone. I can barely wrap my mind around the senseless murder that is happening right now across the oceans in the far away lands, but at this moment my heart is aching for the people who are close to me…
The other day I celebrated my 38th year of birth and in a quiet moment pondered the meaning of my life. I continue to move forward even when I fall and am learning to forgive myself sometimes before I get up. I feel pretty amazing amid all my aches and pains and have absolutely nothing to complain about. This is all the more evident, as my circle of life seems fragile and broken. I have found it difficult lately to be outwardly positive knowing that so many are struggling to make it through the day. So to ask the redundant question of what really is the purpose of being here…
To be happy all the time sounds trite and is quite impossible. However to be able to be content and manage life’s obstacles, like jumping off a bridge into shark infested waters with your feet and hands duck taped together while your shorts are on fire, that requires determination, mental stability and strength. Being strong in your mind comes from within…your spirit… and of course is helped by the people who love you and will hold you up when you can no longer stand.
This is where living in a small town shines…underneath that fantastical idealistic bubble which glows iridescently in the shining sun we weave together a community that pushes like a tsunami wave to help someone in need. I love my town underneath the rainbow.
photo by: Scott Spradley
