Do you ever feel life’s momentum slowing down almost to a grindingly eerie halt? As if the universe is trying to give you a brief reprieve to plan for the big storm that’s about to hit. It’s imminent. You know its coming but you just don’t know when. The air is still and the birds have stopped singing, gone to seek shelter.

So you live in this temporary state of fear and panic. You busy yourself battening down the hatches getting all your ducks in a row. You say all the things you need to say. Do all the things you need to do. And you try your best to ready yourself knowing when the big one hits there will still be things you overlooked or couldn’t have possibly prepared for or known were coming.

Imagine there you are sitting in your living room the sky is cryptic shades of blue and black. The television is making that scary beeping sound warning you to take cover, go under ground, and brace yourself .

They call it the calm before the storm but there is nothing really calm about it, is there?

Metaphorically speaking, it’s the not knowing of things that can drive one mad. The anxiety and vortex of emotions of knowing something awful is looming and it’s not a matter of if but when. It's enough to make people rife with paranoia, delusions and other unkindly behavior.

Like not knowing when a tornado or hurricane is coming or the last time a lover will hold you in his arms, when you will lose your livelihood or your best friend.

If you’re lucky when the storm has passed and you’ve survived, there’s a community of friends waiting to help you clear out of the wreckage. To provide temporary shelter and help you rebuild, to start over again.

When you’re caught up in it you can still touch other people’s lives but you’re temporarily unable to touch your own. In the interim there’s not much to be done but sit back and wait.