I have never been able to decide what it is that I love so much about rainstorms. When I try to sort it out in my mind, several possibilities present themselves. Maybe it’s the earth-shaking power of the thunder vibrating through every cell of my being. Or maybe it’s the energy that charges through the atmosphere after a lightning strike, making the air tingle with vitality. Maybe it’s the smell of the rain on the pavement as it washes away the filth of mankind, refreshing the world in a way only Mother Nature can, or the patterns the dripping water makes as it slides down my windowpane.

Perhaps it’s something more personal, like the way the raindrops match my tears when I cry, or how flashes of light carve vivid pictures of life ­into my eyes – stopping time, if only for a moment. It might be that a thunderclap rings true to my soul, as if the mighty reverberation was the call I have been longing to make but I could never find my voice.

Or could it have more to do with my memories of rainstorms than the actual storm itself? Taking long, drenched walks with my two best friends, as lighthearted and energized as if we hadn’t a care in the world. Or dancing on the soggy lawn with my siblings, arms pointing toward the heavens and excitement flashing in our eyes in time with the brilliant spikes of lightning. Maybe the downpour acts as a reminder of places I’ve been, people I’ve known, things I have done, as if it were my consciousness swirling above me in the sky. Or perhaps it is simply that the rain is a rift in the hot, dry weather I am so ­accustomed to.

All I know is, something profound happens when it rains. It’s as if some slumbering part of my mind and heart is awakened: my senses ­sharpen, and I rediscover the pure, incomparable, divine joy of living. It’s as if, for a moment, the universe is connected in a way that words cannot describe.

When it rains, I feel that some idea or concept that I have known subconsciously all along makes itself manifest through nature, and I become one with myself and the world. The only words I can think of to describe this phenomenon are torrential exhilaration.