The enormous tragedies of Christchurch and Japan stunned me into silence. I last posted the day after the earthquake in a similar vein.
It has been a time for me of a lot of reflection, and a few tinges of what people have dubbed ‘survivor guilt.’ Strongest for those rescued and close to the action, but for those further away it too has a dynamic.
I hear too stories of those that decided to up and leave Christchurch versus those that decide to stay. And what sort of judgement gets placed on those choices?
I think it is so important that we all are able to own our own valid story and experience, without comparison or judgement.
I’m still wondering how I would respond at the heart of a terrifying disaster like the Christchurch earthquake. I like to think I would be brave and heroic and tough out the aftershocks. But I don’t know. Maybe I would go nuts, and just have to get out of there. I have no way of knowing. And at the safe distance of Auckland, it is easy to sit and speculate.
So rising from a numbed silence, I am getting on with work, communicating, on behalf of my self and others. As a good Irish friend said the other day ( and this is good coming from an Irishman!), it is all very sobering. So many activities feel frivolous up against the sobering tragedies.
I’m moved to ‘cut the crap’, cheap shots, cheap jokes, and get more real somehow. Not to be glum, but real. There’s no time to piss about any more. Life is in my face. Live your story.