Hurricane Ian was the first big hurricane our area needed to watch in 2022. It luckily missed us but it reminded me of how many mental dynamics hurricanes bring with them.
So here’s a peek into my brain during a potential hurricane watch:
When the weather channel starts talking about storms to watch, most people who live near The Gulf start to pay attention. Most of the time nothing ever happens and the storm heads somewhere entirely different. But every once in awhile things start to look dicey and that kicks off a two-week long period of watching the storm to see what it ends up doing.
I saw a hilarious meme the other day that said ‘watching a hurricane is like being stalked by a turtle’. Is that not the truest thing you’ve ever heard?! The (literal) weeks of watching the storm turn into a tropical storm and then a hurricane and then watching which category it’s going to be produces so much anxiety. The watching, the waiting, the guessing, the preparing. You do the simple things to prepare – like fill up your gas tanks and make sure your important paperwork is together in case you need to evacuate. The anticipation can be so hard to deal with when it feels like 100 scenarios are rolling around in your head!
And if the storm heads your way, you have even more decisions to make. Will you leave? Will you stay? If you leave, where do you go? What do you bring with you? What do you need to bring for your pets and kids? Do you have parents that need help?
To be honest with you, the part that messes with my head the most is that I find myself actively hoping that a hurricane hits somewhere else. At first you might think ‘well, obviously!’ and yes, I obviously do not want the hurricane to hit my home and community. But there is this part of me that cringes because I know that it’s going to be horrible for someone else. Hurricanes are good for no one and, regardless of where they end up hitting, there is a shared knowing with Floridians of the impact they can have and the mental dynamics that hurricanes bring.
Were you experiencing mental/emotional gymnastics while waiting for Hurricane Ian to arrive, too? What do you do to center yourself?
