perspective
katrina damage Originally uploaded by dressform.
nothing like a natural disaster to put things into focus. i can no longer watch TV or listen to NPR. it is just too too much. the above photo is from the red cross site. taken by Daniel Cima.
yes! we can donate to the red cross . yes! we can buy something from crafters united etsy shop.
but what else? it saddens me so to see so many people that desperate [to the point of looting TV's and harming other humans]... it is amazing to think about an ENTIRE CITY gone. possibly for months potentially irreversably changed.
i'm thinking of trying to figure out a way to send actual goods. and maybe in a few weeks after this inital rush is over - b/c god knows it's going to take more than a few weeks of people donating cash to make a difference.
i also think that we have to continue on with what we all do. if we are all paralized and sit motionless we do no one any good. i'm hoping that the positive energy of making and creating will somehow migrate to the part of the country that is so obviously shattered, dejected, and in need.....
Comments
I think you have captured the way we all feel so well.
I think it is a great idea to positively focus our energies on doing something (anything)...like sending goods and donating $$$. and you're so right-- we have to remember to continue to focus on this months afterward... because that is what it's going to take. all the effort we are putting in now, needs to continue on in the months to come.
right now i find the whole thing pretty much too overwhelming and hard to put into words or think about--seeing the footage on TV just sent me riding on a train-of-thought involving everything that could (or does) go saddeningly wrong in this world on a daily basis...
i really appreciate being reminded that little things can (and will) be done, and that there's always room to stay positive and find ways to actively express compassion.
thanks for this post. I am writing you to ask for your input on
what our online circle of good people can do to help in a bigger way than
we can as individuals. I've posted what I could, but am at a complete
loss for words, really. let me know what you think.
shanna
Like the taberbacle without walls (remembering Owen Wilson in “Meet the Parents” saying, “or as you might call it...a ‘huppa?’”) we could open our homes to those in need.
After a three year battle over a will and the title to a family farm a NYC friend recieved the court orders that he now owns his father’s farm. It cost him his relations with most of the family that wanted to sell to the developers, millions of dollars to buy it from those family members, much of his business during the time it was under contention and no shortage of nerves... but, he recieved it just in time to offer it hospitably to those in need.
In a few days several families from New Orleans will make their new temporary home at his century old NJ farmstead. It’s pretty cool how this all worked out.
My own kids left toys (Thomas the Tank Engine and friends) there in a box in the basement ten years ago while visiting from NYC which will now become some of the first possessions of children of those families.
I just found this out last night after confirming with the friend a trip to NYC. I’m looking forward to it.
I think like Scrooge in the Dickens play. It’s how we choose to react to, and what we salvage from, the dark visitations of the night that will determine our outlook at dawn.