There was a time last year when a friend of mine had decided to dance in the rain.
It was just after class, late into the evening. It had been raining really heavily then, and most of my classmates were either complaining about getting wet or whining about how much more expensive the cab fares were. My girls and I didn’t really care – rain meant more long bus rides.
And so there we were, exiting the air-conditioned part of my school and stepping out into the even more freezing shelter when one of my girlfriends did something we didn’t expect: she ran right out into the rain, screaming.
At first all of us just stood there, slightly bewildered and wondering whether or not stress was getting to her and making her lose a screw or two. But then she turned to us, hair sopping wet with a maniacal grin on her face, and yelled, “Come and join me!”
I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there, unsure and incredibly surprised, when another one of my girls just jumped into the rain and started shrieking in glee. The two walked for a bit, amidst the rest of our laughter and cries of “you guys will get sick!” They didn’t care. Not even when they came back into the shelter sopping wet.
Thinking back on it now, I felt like I should have joined them. Maybe at that moment I didn’t understand or didn’t really care enough to think that there might have been a deeper meaning to it, but I feel like I get it now.
When I was watching the two of them dance in the rain, silly grins and joyous laughter mingling with the sound of the raindrops, it felt like they were being cleansed. Like they were washing away something in their hearts. Or, you know, that in that moment, they were taking the time to be…happy.
Perhaps it all sounds a little too poetic, but it doesn’t matter. They found a little snippet of happiness even when there shouldn’t be, and as a fellow human being, I think that’s something we all forget a lot.
As humans, we all experience so much pain and sadness. There’s always a new problem everyday, and no matter what we do, it’s like we can’t break away from all of that. And that’s okay; that’s life. What’s not okay, however, is letting that sadness overwhelm you.
There are still pieces of happiness to be found, no matter if it’s during a painful experience, or loss, or heartbreak or loneliness. There may not be a lot, but they’re there. They’re real.
You just have to realize that you can still sing and dance in the rain.
Author: Isabel Cruz
Email: [email protected]
Author Bio: writer. poet. cries constantly. mental health activist.
