Good Morning,
I was sitting in the bathtub with way too much time to think. From the other room came growing confusion in the weatherman's excitable voice...
"I've never seen it like this before...they're popping up more quickly than we can track them!...there's another one!"
I could hear my neighbor's new baby crying through the wall. "Great" I thought, after mobile homes and nursing homes I'm pretty sure tornadoes take aim at disabled people and young mothers in apartment communities.
I determined that I would not help them write this story..."and in this apartment complex they found three dead...a young mother holding her infant and what appeared to be a young disabled woman who threw her body over her cat...the cat survived..."
Sooo, I consulted my handy resource "The Prepared Lifestyle" from the University of Kansas and Kansas Department of Health and made my own checklist.
I've come up with my own disaster preparedness checklist highlighting some of the items they forgot.
Helmet- with 200+ mph winds, there is going to be flying and falling debris. Should I be lucky enough to be trapped somewhere, I’d at least like the opportunity to think my way out of it.
CamelBak- filled with water and a fuel belt filled with Ensure Plus for longer durations...
BITE DOWN. PUSH ON. http://www.camelbak.com/
Kitty harness- in trial runs with the kitty harness, Mitty simply lays down and flops on her side or does the military crawl. Regardless of noisy rescue efforts (helicopters, bulldozers, jack hammers), this should keep her close…
Flash drive- I found that despite my dedicated listening to dharma talks and meditation practice...I am very attached to ideas. I don’t mind my computer being blown to bits but did have the impulse to go grab my flash drive. Just in case any of my writings contain that one kernel of a thought that could bring world peace. I’d like to save that...
Saw & tourniquet- finally FINALLY I’d have good reason to cut my left foot off. I'm really hoping it is the body part that gets stuck.
A clean pair of underwear. (hey, see above photo).
And lastly, should I perish...a tattoo that says "Lola" or something racy so that my family might get a smile when they have to ID me...hint my stripper name is "Chesty Leathertush." : )
I guess the truth is no matter how prepared, we never know when disaster will strike. There is no checklist to ultimately keep us safe. As I've listened to some of the amateur video from the Joplin, MO tornado, it struck me how the young man taking the video, fear in his voice, kept asking amidst the confusion...
"Are you okay? Are you okay?"
His concerns not for saving himself or his Youtube footage but rather conveyed in this message
"I'm trying to keep my weight off of you." In times of GREAT stress sometimes what emerges is the full beauty and potential of the human heart to care for the stranger piled below.
(Thankfully, she responded, "yes, i'm okay.")
I spent a lot of time sitting in a bathtub last week contemplating suffering. Here's what I've concluded. To not be changed or moved by a disaster is doing a disservice to yourself. Let your heart break and some of the teachings of the dharma (e.g. love and compassion) can fall in…
In ADDITION to my checklist, as my response, I'm taking a little more care in noticing when I say “It doesn’t matter…”
for example,
You throw a pop can in the trash not the recycle bin…
You try to slip a few 2's and 7's in the 1's only recycle dumpster
You park in the disability space...when you could walk
You miss calling a friend to give them a birthday wish...
We can be better stewards of the land and better caretakers for each other. I hope you let your good heart (plus action!) be your response to devastation and suffering.
Mindful Memorial Monday,
Amanda
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