As windy as it can get

‘Where the wind comes from, where the wind goes,

Nobody knows, nobody knows.’

It’s a little over a year since I started my blog and the monsoons are here to remind me. There is nothing quite like the changeover between seasons to bring back memories. And as the wind blows furiously through the wide open windows, making the curtains billow in ever more manic choreography, I think about all those metaphorical winds that we encounter in our lives: the winds of change, ill winds, winds that pummel, sowing the wind (and reaping the whirlwind!), winds that clear the air, winds that blow away the cobwebs of the mind.

Today, when one hears the phrase ‘harnessing the wind’ one thinks of clean technology and alternatives to traditional methods of power generation. Those giants of folklore and the enemy of Don Quixote are coming into their own as they begin their march along the landscape, as we bid to blow breath by breath with nature.

There are also winds which generate a tremendous power within our own lives. Sometimes the winds are gentle, wafting us along in the comfortable phases where problems are small and the pleasures are many; sometimes the wind is buoyant, lifting us up so that we soar to heights beyond our wildest dreams; stronger winds, presaging stormy weather, buffet us about but do no real damage; sometimes the winds are a hurricane, spinning us around and out of control, creating havoc in mind and heart. Sometimes the wind dies down altogether and we are mindful of its absence wondering when it will return and how. Yes, the wind and its ways teach us to know the good from the bad, predict the storm, prepare for it and weather it through – a lesson that we sometimes ignore to our own peril, in nature and in life.

Winds blowing through the years also blow in our direction the friends we meet and make along the way. Some blow on, some stay providing the windbreak that we all need. Today, a message from such a friend blew into my box; it consoled and encouraged at a time when the gusts in my life have been strong and have left me struggling for balance. It is a poem by Howard Goodman:

Dreams
I've dreamed many dreams that never came true,
I've seen them vanish at dawn.
But I've realized enough of my dreams, thank God,
To make me want to dream on.

Prayers
I've prayed many prayers, when no answers came,
Though I waited so patient and long,
But answers came to enough of my prayers
To make me keep praying on.

Trust
I've trusted many a friend who failed
And left me to weep alone,
But I've found enough of my friends to be true
To make me keep trusting on.

Generosity
I've sown many seeds that fell by the way
For the birds to feed upon,
But I've held enough golden sheaves in my hands
To make me keep sowing on.

Life
I've drained the cup of disappointment and pain
And gone many days without song,
But I've sipped enough nectar from the roses of life
To make me want to live on.

And my favourite quotes with a ‘windy’ flavour? ‘The wind can fell an oak but it cannot break a reed’ and ‘We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails!’ Proverbs that inspire, proverbs that show us how we can live with and harness the wind!