If you grew up with Kermit the Frog, you know the song, “The Rainbow Connection.†It’s a beautiful song about “lovers, dreamers and me.†It’s about listening to your dreams, your intuition and following your heart. Well, last night, all of us here in Boston were connected through the appearance of such a rainbow.
Before the rainbow, though, there was dark sky and pounding rain. I was teaching a yoga class and as the color of the sky deepened and the light retreated, the rain began. The sound of the raindrops on the windows was deafening and a bit ominous. As I taught, I spoke to the challenge of staying present on the mat, regardless of what was going on around us. As the rain continued to fall, the class transitioned into the rhythm of the breath and the sequence. We were creating our own peaceful center in the eye of the storm.
By the time class was over, the bulk of the storm had passed. A light rain was all that remained and the dark sky had passed. The humidity of the early evening had given way to a cool breeze. I walked along the bridge home into Charlestown, filled with inspiration from the wonderful students that had showed up for class. As I passed over the harbor, the raindrops on the water created a comforting pitter-patter soundtrack in the background. On the final approach to my street, I noticed car after car, and person after person, pulling out their cameras and looking up into the sky.
You know that commercial for the iphone that shows people in different scenarios, using their phone to take pictures? There’s the couple hiking, the little girl in a bunny suit on her bed, the man running alongside a beautiful vista; well, that’s what it reminded me of last night. Regardless of what you were doing, you stopped, looked up into the sky and took a picture. Or at least you gazed up and took notice. In the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, we all stopped just for a moment, to take in something nature provided. Children pointed up to the sky, moms and dads smiled, couples held hands as their eyes gazed skyward. It was connection through the shared view of nature’s magic.
One block from my house, I saw my neighbors holding their adorable twins. They waved me over excitedly, and exclaimed, “It’s the twin’s birthday today! We’re admiring the rainbow. Will you take a picture of us under it?†And there it was again: another “moment†captured under the rainbow. As they posed underneath and I framed the shot, I felt a warm rush of connection.
Of course, by this point, many people had already captured the rainbow too. I arrived home and turned on my computer, went to Facebook and literally, my entire Facebook feed was filled with pictures of the rainbow! The pictures were from all over Boston: views from the harbor, from Beacon Hill, from Storrow Drive, from the Charles River. Each person shared their story of where they were when they saw it. There it was again: the rainbow connection.
In times like these, we’re reminded that beauty is around us all the time but we need to stop to notice it. We’re also reminded that in the hustle and bustle of our day, without taking a moment to notice the beauty around us, we will grow tired, cynical and separate from others. We’re not all that different and the ties that bind us are often right under our noses. Or, as in the case of last night, up in the sky.