Big Love

Silver linings often require hindsight

“When it rains look for rainbows. When it’s dark look for stars.” The Opame Collective, Instagram.

Star gazing is one of the most beautiful aspects of the night. Besides signaling the body to wind down and be still, the night also brings a quiet space to just be. There is a big sky and we hardly look at it. It can also be easy to forget that the stars are always there, though not visible for daylight hours and the mirage is that they disappear then reappear.

Rainbows would not exist if not for the rain and the sun. The prism that the two in combination create is very lovely. Seen from an airplane, the full circle rainbow is breath-taking. This is one of nature’s truisms, a yin and yang in full color.

There is a saying to look for the silver lining of a seemingly negative situation.

What is a silver lining? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary attributed the saying to an 1871 phrase “every cloud has a silver lining” and means “a consoling or hopeful prospect.” This phrase may be synonymous with the Global Pandemic one day, as it was used often to describe the positives that the Pandemic brought to light. Hindsight can illuminate the so called silver linings in a way that they can be hard to distill during the moment.

I remember being always needed by my young children, and wishing I had some time alone. I remember cautioning myself, not wanting to bring any ill wishes into the picture. Just as I learned to take the saying “I’m dying for xyz” to “I’m living for xyzzy.” Now when my children leave to have time with their father, I do have time alone. But as this is new the silence that is left after they leave often wrenches at my heart. One day I hope to see the silver lining star filled rainbow bright.