What I've Learned

Autumn 2008

One of the primary points of this page - What I've Learned - is in recognition that life is a continuing journey. We might believe that things are pretty much the same today as they were yesterday, but over time, the changes are huge.

One of the things I'm most struck with this fall is how momentous these days are, both to our planet as a whole, but also closer to home. It's a historic time with global climate change now considered a fact rather than a theory, the oldest man to run for president of the United States, the first black man to run for president of the United States, huge upheaval in the financial markets, and a lingering war. The uncertainty of it all is enough to make one long for the good old days though in fact, the old days were rarely as good as remembered. All we can ever hope to do is to make the best decisions we know how to make today and to keep moving forward with the faith that all is well.

I experienced my first hurricane this fall, a guy named Ike. Fortunately, I live far enough inland that we escaped the devastation so many close to the coast experienced. We came through the experience as unscathed as was possible with only damage to trees in our yard. Beyond the aftermath and the inconvenience of being without electricity for a while, two memories stand out.

The first is the eye of the storm, which passed over our house about 3:30 a.m. I had been asleep, and when the wind stopped blowing, the silence woke me up. I got up, and I went outside. The air was completely still. I looked up, expecting to see stars, since I'd remembered reading that you could see clear sky in the eye of a hurricane. No stars. Simply the blackest sky I ever remember seeing, and without the usual reflection from city lights since the power had gone out over the entire metropolitan area of Houston. And the silence - it was the deepest I've ever encountered. The sense I had at that moment was of being sheltered within a cocoon. Odd as it sounds now, odd as it seemed then, I had the feeling of touching something holy. Reassured, I went back inside and went soundly to sleep. When I awoke a few hours later, the wind was blowing hard … in the opposite direction of what it had been when I had first gone to sleep … and so I knew the end of the storm would come soon. And it did.

The second is the kindness of people, which seems to be the way it usually is during times of crisis. If your neighborhood is anything like mine, it's more usual to have everyone holed up in their own homes, watching television, and hanging out in their own backyard than in being a community with one another. The power was out, and everyone was outside, checking on one another and helping out in a myriad of ways. Those with generators often ran extension cords to neighbors, so refrigerators could be kept going. Backyard grills where hauled to the front yards where community cooking took place, as well as community meals. There was that sense of belonging that comes with part of being a community.

Sadly, after the power came back on, everyone retreated back into their homes and their usual routines of watching television and once more being more isolated. While the power was off, I was provided a glimpse of the past, where communities did seem to be more interconnected. And though we can never go back (nor would I want to), I've come to believe that we've lost an important part of our personal well being by being more connected to our world through the electronic medium by which you are reading this piece. Instead blogging, text messaging, emailing, and spending hours in front of the computer, maybe it's time for face to face connection where we can remind ourselves that we are more alike than different, and more whole when we're part of something bigger than ourselves.

I think Ralph Nader had it right when he said, "When strangers start acting like neighbors, communities re reinvigorated."

Here's to good neighbors and rich relationships in your life.

--Sharon

What I've Learned... Archive

Autumn 2006
Spring 2006
Spring 2004
Spring 2003
Spring 2002
Spring 2001