Disaster Compassion

My problems are nothing compared to the folks in the Gulf Coast - both from the recent hurricane and from those that preceded it. But I can sure tell you that my level of empathy is right up there at 100%!

Late Friday night, I walked into my house after some much needed country dancing. I had just returned from two weeks in Nashville, Houston, and Honolulu. At first I thought Xena and Lezard had trashed one of their stuffed ducks. The hall was covered in gray clumps of stuffing. Rounding the corner to my office I was startled to see three and four-foot piles of soggy insulation and huge chunks of wet ceiling tiles blanketing my fax machine, file cabinets, office chair, computer, and printer.

I had been out of the office for too long, and had carefully "filed" follow-up notes in little piles in a semi-circle around my desk. My carefully organized stacks were now soggy and buried under ceiling debris.

Turns out a condenser pipe from the air conditioner had been leaking for some time and the insulation had soaked it up as long as it could before it crashed to the floor.

I numbly shook my head, pulled my laptop and other electronics out of harms way, put a bucket under the drip, and went to bed.

Then with rolled up sleeves, and a grim determination, I spent the next day cleaning up the mess. Insurance wouldn't be sending the cavalry till Monday. My heart sank as I tried to make sense of my faded notes, and hoped my computers and other electronics were OK.

I took a lunch break and turned on the news. There was hurricane Katrina bearing down on the gulf again. I felt simultaneous waves of compassion, sadness, and relief. This was only ONE room. This was salvageable. This was inconvenient. I only needed to move my office across the hall. A friend has lost two houses in the past two years to the fury of the gulf hurricanes and he was in the path of Katrina now.

Perhaps these little disasters happen so we can feel empathy and compassion for those hit by larger disasters. Even if there is no cosmic reason for my mini-trauma, I certainly can apply the lesson and be grateful for a smaller loss.

I thought about a recent study that said our society is growing further and further away from empathy and compassion. That may be the reason for an increase in violence and crime. There are those who lack a sense of empathy for others and cannot feel their pain. Perhaps this is the result of reality TV, video games, or families distracted by consumerism. Who knows? Whatever the reason, it does not bode well for society.

How about you? Are you numb to compassion? Too stressed to care about another person's pain? Unable to distinguish between TV dramas and the news? Feeling hopeless and overwhelmed by the burden of all the pain in the world?

It is true - we can't save the world by ourselves. However, we can all do a little and our "little" plus other folks "little" can add up to a tremendous relief for those hit hardest.

Malama Pono (take care of yourself,)

Beth

Notes - if you are interested in donating, be sure you know the requesting agency well. If you aren't sure, go to:

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm#donate

If that link doesn't work, just go to www.fema.gov and click on the link on the upper right that says, "Donate." Be sure you aren't responding to a hoax that is just trying to steal your identity or your credit card info. Miscreants and folks with no conscience use these disasters to line their own pockets. Let's not help them out. (PS: "fema.gov" is a government web site)