Re: DEALING WITH NATURAL DISASTERS

[Anonymous]

doing something practical always helps me in a crisis. it gets you out of your own headspace and physically moving, so gives that dangerously paralysing ‘rabbit in the headlight’-mode a solid kick in the pants, it knocks that feeling of powerlessness completely out of the water (while you can’t prevent catastrophe, you can make a difference to the aftermath in many many ways) and it does a fair bit for misplaced guilt (it’s probably only me who feels guilty for things i have no control over, when i didn’t personally do anything wrong or cause them to happen, but maybe it’s an ADD thing as well).

we’re all family to some extent, i probably pass people in the street here- more than 3,000 miles from home, who share the same great great grandfather as me- and those who don’t- well, we’re all made of the same stuff and part of the same system when it comes down to it. and i think that being family- blood or not- is about community, and finding a shared strength, reaching out to help each other up in whatever way we can- and every hand held out makes a difference.

i’d look at what you CAN do, and then do *something*- even if it’s baking cookies to raise cash to give to the red cross, volunteering at a local asian community group making tea for people who are gathering to find comfort from their peers, or perhaps calling up an elderly relative who you haven’t spoken to for far too long, and listening to them talk about how THEY feel (sometimes seniors in society feel even more trapped and vulnerable in situations like this than the rest of us- they’re frequently isolated physically, spend a lot of time alone with a wealth of memories, and perhaps feel a little too proud or reserved to actively seek out support, for worry of burdening busy young-folk or seeming weak and needy). even doing something for a group or cause completely unrelated to this event is a worthy undertaking- a lot of soup kitchens for the homeless or animal rescue charities will be feeling the crunch really badly at the moment, as everyone else’s pennies will have been redirected at once towards japan- and their work with other needy beings still goes on, their plight doesn’t lessen at a time like this.

i think i’d try and take comfort in knowing that time will help you process this event, and add a little perspective- in being sure that things will continue to go on despite great adversity- we’ll mourn, rebuild, and move forward, as we always do… it’s part of the cycle. i’ve never been a big crier or greiver, i don’t know why- maybe it’s a self preservation strategy, maybe i’m a cold hard bitch- who knows. i don’t watch the news stories that flood the media after something like this, and i’m not one to share every video clip on youtube, talk about how dreadful it is, etc, because that just seems a little too voyeuristic, perverted, macabre and masochistic to me (like rubbernecking a carwreck, it just leaves a funny taste in my mouth- i already know all i need too, i don’t need the continuing gory details read out to me in triplicate) but i do subscribe to the idea of being quietly ok with however you feel right now, whenever ‘right now’ is- cos really, it just is how it is, whether there is a reason or not- and nothing is the same forever- you know?

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