As the earth shook yesterday after an earthquake, the responses were varied. Here in New York City, seeing streams of people on the sidewalks and streets brought back conversations and memories of 9/11. After finding the whereabouts of their loved ones, the conversation shifted to the earthquake itself. People wanted to connect and see what others had felt and where they were when it happened. This seemed to bring comfort to the people evacuated from their offices.
I was fascinated by two polar opposite responses: “I felt everything move in my office and I knew something was wrong” and “I didn’t feel anything at all.” As ‘normalcy’ returned to workplaces, there was a sense of fear about an earthquake happening in the east coast. People seemed surprised that the earth shook.
As I listened to various conversations about the earthquake, I realized how uncomfortable people felt with the earth rumbling. I had the thought that it was ironic that Washington DC was rattled by a quake given the current political atmosphere. Maybe we need shaking up from time to time.
The earth moves every day, but we are not as aware or attuned to it. What will this earthquake teach us? What else needs a little more movement in our lives?
As the writer Dominique Browning says about life, “It never gets easy. But if we are paying attention, it can get simpler.”
The earth will shake again. Are we willing to pay attention to what the earth is saying to us and what we are saying to the earth?
Peace,
Mary Anne