(Photo from CNN)
I wonder what is going through the minds of these victims. Mostly they are just trying to survive right now, but in the future when they are, hopefully, back to a relatively normal life, they might be thinking along the same lines as I have been thinking since February, when I started this blog. They will have to come to their answers, as I have to come to mine.
This experience will have affected them in a major way. To be able to come to terms with it - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually - will undoubtedly be a enormous project. Though I am not affected by the hurricane physically, it does give me pause to ask myself again the questions of my life, the questions and thoughts that have developed repeatedly as I have written about the journey to simplicity:
- What is precious to us in this life? What do we cherish? When it comes down to the nitty gritty, what is it we would try to save in an emergency? What is replaceable? What is not?
- What can I control in my life? What is out of my control? Do I know the difference? Do I have the ability to accept that which I cannot change while changing the things I can?
- Quote from March: The expression comes to my mind, "You wouldn't understand." "You had to be there." I think that says it all. As horrible as the images are on TV, we know we are only living vicariously through these victims. I have no idea what it would be like to suddenly have your existence reduced to a garbage bag of food and a blanket.
- How much "stuff" have I accumulated when there are so many people who don't have the basics of food and shelter?
- How much have I taken for granted in my life (house, family/friends, job, good health, etc.)?
- Quote from May: For awhile, however, I have been considering the waste we generate, as a family and as a society. Sometimes we don't think about it until we see the sewers are backing up, or we are thousands of people living in the Superdome.
- How much does it take for us to survive? To live sufficiently? To live comfortably? To live well? To live in a way to which we have become accustomed? What can we do without? What do we need? What can we share? How do we justify our lifestyle in the face of poverty and hunger?