I have this random plant stand, that um has never held a plant in it. I am sure I bought it on a whim thinking some beautiful draping flower arrangement would brighten my deck. I am also sure there may have been a pot with it that got broken or some nonsense like that.
So now the stand sits with this random tile on top from some flooring project along the way of house improvements. It sits on the open area of our deck and I often use it to put a nice glass of beverage on when enjoying my outside time and area.
The oddest part is that my outside area can get very windy and blustery. I am continually picking up the cushions and pillows and putting them back in their place. And yet…the stand and this tile I have yet to pick up. Even last night after golf ball size hail, crazy winds that blew everything everywhere I thought welp, better go pick up broken tile. I figured THIS was the one storm that would finally knock it over.
I go outside and see it there, upright in the same exact place it has been all summer, not even a blown around cushion bumped it. I barely think about it and then really think about it as I sit in the center of unspeakable personal storm. A storm that has hail that hits strong and furiously and then is gone but will return at any time. Crazy wind that blows and howls and then crazy quiet that sits heavy, like waiting for the next thunderstorm to come.
And I think of the stand and tile. WHY and HOW does it stay upright? Fragile spindly legs, the tile balanced on top, not glued or secure in any way. How does it not succumb to those elements that blow everything else around it?
I ponder, is it the three legs perfectly symmetrical, even though slim and delicate but yet perfectly balanced that the wind flows through it? Is it the tile on top set just so in a way that keeps it grounded, the hail hits it but can’t find a weak edge to break or knock off?
I think of this and say yes to all of it. This is how the storm can be survived. The wind and hail and quiet can be survived with balance, delicate grace, and a strong foundation with no weak edges. It doesn’t mean the stand and tile don’t get buffeted and hit, it means it stays standing upright by combining all of those things.
And I think to myself yes, this is how one stays standing.
