(Lessons on resilience from a Florida girl who’s lived through a few.)
Hola Fierce Friends,
Having lived in the hurricane alley of Florida, I know a thing or two about preparing for a storm. Hurricanes don’t appear out of nowhere, they build slowly over time. You can watch them swirl on every news channel, the spaghetti models tracing their possible paths, each one a reminder that uncertainty is on the horizon.
When a storm is coming, we prepare. We gas up the cars. We stock up on bottled water, flashlights, and, let’s be honest, maybe a little wine.
But here’s what always fascinates me: even with all that preparation, some people still wait until the very last minute to take it seriously. They’ve seen storms before. They’ve survived worse. So, they get a little lax. And that’s when a storm reminds you – it’s unpredictable.
Lately, the world has started to feel like that. The air feels charged, like something big is brewing. We can all sense it: AI. Protests. Wars. Government shutdowns. Economic uncertainty.
We see the storm forming offshore, but we don’t quite know where it’s going to hit.
And uncertainty has a way of stirring up anxiety, doesn’t it?
Many of us are living in a low-grade fight or flight state – scrolling, reacting, coping – but are we preparing? Are we building the kind of inner resilience that helps us weather what’s coming?
I think back to 2008. The financial crash hit hard. Friends lost jobs, homes, entire futures they’d built brick by brick. I did too. I short-sold my home and lived for a time in government-subsidized housing.
It was humbling. But you know what? People helped one another. We watched each other’s kids, swapped groceries, and shared what we had.
Fast forward to COVID – another storm, only different. We came together again, but we also fractured. Fear, politics, and disconnection swept through like high winds. And we’re still living with that aftermath.
The truth is, whether it’s personal, financial, or societal, storms are inevitable. So the question becomes: How do we prepare?
In Florida, there’s a tree that always reminds me of what resilience really looks like: the palm tree.
When hurricane winds rage, the palm bends, it doesn’t break. Its leaves create a protective barrier for the trunk, and its shallow root system allows it to drink deeply from the storm itself.
It’s flexible. It moves with the wind, not against it.
Maybe that’s what we’re called to do right now. To be like the palm tree – flexible, rooted in purpose, and open to growth.
Because the storms of life always bring debris to the surface: old fears, hidden insecurities, buried grief. They reveal what’s been sitting quietly at the bottom of our ocean.
And when the storm clears, we see what needs tending.
Storms are not just about destruction, they’re about revelation. They show us what needs to change, both personally and collectively.
So as we face whatever comes next, economically, politically, spiritually, let’s prepare not just with food and fuel, but with courage, compassion, and connection.
Let’s check on our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends. Let’s knock on doors (literal or virtual) and say, “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
Because in the end, that’s how we weather every storm: Together. Rooted. Still standing. 🌴
Stay Fierce,
Marcie Rey Landreth, LCSW | Heart Development Strategies, LLC