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forgive me if i'm getting all navel-gaze-y
So we spent some time in the stairwell last night before I left work, but somehow I managed to miss how horrible the tornadoes were in other areas, particularly in Alabama. Dealing with tornados is just a part of growing up in the South (and in the Midwest, I know), so I’m usually not horribly phased by them (too much time spent in basements and hallways without anything ever affecting anyone I love too profoundly will make you sort of blasé about it all, I hate to say). But the damage this time, especially in Tuscaloosa, is just breaking my heart. So many dead. So very many dead, especially for one tornado. The death toll is in the hundreds from one storm—that’s extreme. And it particularly freaked me out this time because I have so many people that I love in that area, and though they're all fine, there were some close calls.
It’s just felt to me lately like every time I turn around, there’s some other natural disaster: tsunamis or hurricanes or earthquakes. Add to that the violence everywhere, but especially in the Middle East, and the world just feels like such a broken place. And yet there’s so much beauty, too, so much wonder. There are times when I’m so wrapped up in that beauty that I feel buoyant, that I revel in it and feel that the world is so wonderful. And then there are other times when I’m absolutely caught up in the devastation and how much pain there is in the world and how much suffering and how many tears. Life can be so, so hard for so very many people. And I am so, so blessed, because even though it’s sometimes hard for me, compared to so many I have so very much. My prayer is that I’ll always be grateful and humble, that I’ll never feel entitled, and that I’ll never forget those who are suffering. But reconciling the pain and suffering on one side and the joy and beauty on the other…it’s difficult sometimes. But it’s also at the heart of what it is to be human, isn’t it? Walking that line. Experiencing both, and trying to live with the contradictions.
Anyway, I hope that everyone y’all love is safe today and that you’ll keep the ones who have lost so much in your thoughts and prayers.
It’s just felt to me lately like every time I turn around, there’s some other natural disaster: tsunamis or hurricanes or earthquakes. Add to that the violence everywhere, but especially in the Middle East, and the world just feels like such a broken place. And yet there’s so much beauty, too, so much wonder. There are times when I’m so wrapped up in that beauty that I feel buoyant, that I revel in it and feel that the world is so wonderful. And then there are other times when I’m absolutely caught up in the devastation and how much pain there is in the world and how much suffering and how many tears. Life can be so, so hard for so very many people. And I am so, so blessed, because even though it’s sometimes hard for me, compared to so many I have so very much. My prayer is that I’ll always be grateful and humble, that I’ll never feel entitled, and that I’ll never forget those who are suffering. But reconciling the pain and suffering on one side and the joy and beauty on the other…it’s difficult sometimes. But it’s also at the heart of what it is to be human, isn’t it? Walking that line. Experiencing both, and trying to live with the contradictions.
Anyway, I hope that everyone y’all love is safe today and that you’ll keep the ones who have lost so much in your thoughts and prayers.
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