During the past week global turbulence elevated at high speed with Hurricane Sandy plundering through Haiti to the U.S. It appears that many times when devastation occurs on such a massive scale a lot of heated human emotions rise to the surface.
While browsing around the web and dwelling into all kinds of news stories and page commentaries focusing around the topic of Hurricane Sandy, I saw how people are mostly in need of recognition and appreciation of their existence.
Now this is just a very simple natural psychological aspect of our human character (but it can be extremely misunderstood and hidden from us because of the turbulent times of our world social situation). These devastating headlines can bring out the best in us and can also bring out the worst. Either way, these conflicting opposites are signs of human emotions seeking attention, contact & connection with others, even if it’s aimed at raising deeply heated arguments ending up in curses and apparently despiteful hatred.
There is a “good Samaritan” which hides inside each and every one of us (but not always the influence of our surrounding environments allows this potential to be exposed) even more so or more less when there is chaos all around. I would like to share with you here an inspiring status I read on the Facebook page of Walk Out Walk On, which could help us to focus on and perhaps receive some positive learning from a devastating situation.
“A reflection from Walk Out Walk On friend, Bev Reeler on these times we are living in: “Do we need chaos to prompt us into our wider selves?”
The Floods and the Flow
– October 30th 2012
Hurricane Sandy hit the East coast of the United States today.
Millions of people witnessed
the combined power of surging wind-blown seas,
spring tides and a cold weather front
sweeping into their streets and their homes
suspending the routine of lives lived in familiar patterns
shops emptied of supplies
transport systems closed, schools closed, businesses closed
even the stock exchange is closed
as millions take shelter
alongside bottles of water and food supplies that protect them from
waiting for the violence of the storm to subside
last week a storm hit the west coast of France, Spain and Portugal
in a fury of wind and water that drowned their houses and cars
57 people were killed
an earthquake shook the seas off the Californian coast raising fears of a tsunami
within a short week
we are confronted with the fragility of the systems that hold us
against the force of this elemental power
the planet has shaken her mantle before,
but things are different now
we have settled in our increasing millions
along the shores of her oceans
the faults of her mantle
at the feet of her growing mountains
and every time she shivers
the structures and systems that have taken centuries build
are wiped out in a few hours
there is something that happens in these moments of chaos
when we are called so starkly into dealing with the present
when we leave our homes with our supplies
shifted out of the normality of our lives
and even the rescue services can’t hold back the damage
It is as if some other part of us wakes up
and we become part of a cooperative, coordinated action
that calls us back to community beings
to lay sand bags along shop fronts
take care of the old lady next door
the kid down the streetwill we find a vision that holds us in this chaos
that enables us to stand here in the fire
the floods and the flow?will we start learning something beyond saving ourselves
and the security of our singular lives?do we need chaos to prompt us into our wider selves?
are realizations of great significance only born of pain?
in Syria the government forces bombed their capital
killing their own children
and we watch the world on our screens
horrified but detached
until ‘we are the ones’this week carries great learning………
Image courtesy of Victor Habbick at FreeDigitalPhotos.net