Sunshine & Shiny Steel
From the perspective of Ann Walker (written by me):
Some days I am made of steel and other days I am made of feathers. On the feather days, at times even small gusts of wind are powerful tornado forces and I am blown away in an instant. On the steel days, even powerful tornado forces feel like small gusts of wind and I am sturdy and resolute. On feather days the skies are cloudy, gloomy, and ominous. On steel days they are bright blue and the sun is shining radiantly on every person and object it touches. My vision is vast and I can see the depth of beauty and splendor in front of me, because the sunlight has illuminated it. On steel days, I am filled with happiness. On feather days the shadows cast about make it harder to see the depth of objects and instead my eyes stop at the surface. I am afraid of how circumstances appear because my vision is restricted. Darkness has replaced the light once present on a steel day.
However, there is hope. I am unexpectedly reminded of the rules of sunscreen our parents teach us as kids. Even when it’s cloudy, use your sunscreen. The sun, in its boundlessness, still shines through the clouds. So, even on the worst feather days, the sun is still gleaming through the despondency. The gleams are baby gleams, but gleams nonetheless. When I embrace the baby gleams they turn into toddler beams, then pre-teen gleams, then teenager gleams, the adult gleams, until the gleams are beaming infinitely and burning brightly. (If you gain nothing else from reading this, at least you now know the life cycle of a gleam). Come to think of it, the shape and arrangement of feathers are what enable birds to fly and feathers are remarkably durable and resilient. Consequently, on feather days, I can fly. If I arrange my feathers in the right way and trust their strength, I can fly through those clouds of doom and gloom and actually withstand them. Then, if I keep flying higher, powering through the stormy haze, I will eventually break through. And guess what is on the other side? Sunshine and shiny steel.
