There have been times in the past week that I feel like I'm in a movie. It's that part where you're standing still and the world moves around you in slow motion and you're aware of what's going on, but you're almost detached from what's happening around you. It's quite surreal.
The news is full of pictures of a disaster in Japan that may have claimed the lives of over 20,000 people. I'm still trying to grasp the loss of life from 9-11, so the chances I'll grasp a number like 20,000 people is - realistically - quite slim. That's almost like wiping out my entire home town. Gone in less than 15 minutes.
And in the midst of these photos, the concerns about nuclear leaks, the many, many needs of people on the other side of the world, I've found out in the last week that two people in my life have cancer, a classmate from college has died, a wedding announcement arrived and a baby was born to a friend. In short, life goes on no matter how terrible the news, no matter how much the pain. And I'm left trying to reconcile all of this. Maybe you are too?
There's been a lot of discussion this week about how to relate to the magnitude of this disaster - how to connect, how to care. I think at some points our brains turn off to protect us from further pain, which is why I have felt like there's this slow motion life going on around me. I don't have any sage advice on how to manage this magnitude of death and destruction - a generation will know and remember this week. I do know, however, that one way I'm dealing with all of it is to try to pull those I love closer to me. I'm saying prayers for those who have lost entire families. I'm watching the news to find ways to help. And I'm being thankful for the life I've been given as well as for the lives of those I love.
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