Replanting, Rebuilding
I used to love reading newspapers.
It was in fact the highlight of my day. I could not get enough of them, and would read not one but two or more of different newspapers. And if I make it home before 7 at night, I would switch on the television and hungrily watch the news, letting it envelop me, allowing the visuals – grim or otherwise – to reiterate what I already know.
It is funny really – the way news would explore every avenue and have every possible slant and not stop until a news story is exhausted. And I mean, exhausted.
But after some time, I realized – all the news I have been reading and watching, all that corruption and greed, all that plummeting of the stock market and political upheavals and the skyrocketing of gasoline prices – all of those would get me to a panic, and get me depressed.
I was engaged, involved, but depressed.
It was not a good place to be.
And so I decided to end it, decided not to know, decided I will not make myself paranoid. Ignorance is bliss. I decided I would only think of positive thoughts and would not let into my mind – unbidden – those negative thoughts and visuals and news that I know would spawn other negative thoughts and visuals and news (as preached by zen master Leo Babauta and tapping expert Nick Ortner). I decided I would not be a part of the general thought process that engineer the world for a fall and push it to the brink (although unwittingly).
That was until the Japan quake and tsunami.
On the day, there was a slight commotion at the office. At the corner of my eye, I saw that people were on their cellphones – Japan had an earthquake, I thought I heard one say. And then, twenty minutes later, someone exclaimed that a tsunami is devastating Japan and maybe is on its way to my island, to Hawaii and to the West Coast of the United States (where my mom, my brothers and the rest of my relatives lived!). I had to get up my chair and leave my room and join two colleagues who were huddled in front of the television. I looked and watched in horror as the waves – with debris and mud and cars and homes and people – go inland into Japan, leaving in its wake, a path of destruction.
I called my husband, called my daughter’s cellphone (but no answer), warned the maid that in case of an earthquake, she and the baby should go out of the house and head to a clearing. My mother also called me and asked me if I knew what is going on (she knew I do not watch or read the news) and if we were okay. We were, but most of Japan were not.
The day after, I opened my first newspaper in months and saw a woman, blanket around her, surveying what was left of her home – which was almost nothing, and exclaiming (according to the article), Such is life, as if she was bravely resigned to her fate.
I then realized, no man is an island. What affects some people affects all. That sometimes, it is better to know.
That sometimes, precious facts can be sifted from the debris of bad news, so people should attempt at least to find out the rudiments of what is going on. This way, they will know how to react and will not be caught unaware. That the receiver can guard his mind or alter (or forget) the disturbing images it receives so that it will not join in the chorus of the general consciousness that may be harmful to the world.
I relaxed my “no news” policy and hoped to find the balance.
After all, such is life.
Article by Issa. Painting by Danvic Briones. Copyright 2011.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
P.S. You can give to Global Giving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund here (thank you to Kikay Exchange for bringing them to my orbit) or to Red Cross here. Please also remember to get your disaster relief kits ready.
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