The super-moon is clearly having its effect on me. I’m not exactly a wide-eyed optimist, my sense of tragedy is rather well-developed, and I certainly don’t think in terms of “cosmic evolutionary steps” like the writer quoted below, yet I found her description of life right now in Sendai, Japan, very moving.
I was sent it by a friend in New York who wrote: “There is much to be depressed about what is happening in Japan, the Middle East, and the U.S., and yet this morning, when someone forwarded me this letter from Anne Thomas about her decision to stay in Sendai, I knew I had to send it on because this is really a time for the best in human beings to come forth. I am glad to be exploring with all of you what it is to be human:
A letter from Sendai
ANNE THOMAS 3/14/2011
published online @ Ode magazineThings here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is now even more worthy of that name, I am staying at a friend’s home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.
During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.
It’s utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, “Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.”
Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.
We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.
There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.
Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entrance-way. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend’s husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.
Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that is much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.
Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all, A
Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing,
there is a field. I will meet you there. – Rumi
Filed under: ecology, existence, sanity Tagged: | Anne Thomas, earthquake, Japan, Sendai, supermoon
Beautiful. I think when life’s luxuries are scarce and basic needs are all we have, the fire of greed turns off and we return to our natural instinct of humanity. As you know, for some people in other parts of the world, this description of life at it’s basics is the norm, such as in Gaza. At least Japan has hope to rebuild.
It’s extremely moving to know that this letter is coming from a place that has been humbled by such a catastrophic event, where you can only see devastation and no one would ever expect that there is hope or a ray of light. It is sometimes only through such deep tragedy that we can see the essence of a powerful human spirit.
Deep thanks to this remarkable soul who shared with you the hopes we all share regarding the evolution of this human species. May it prevail and may they as well.
My heart goes out to Japanese.
They are unique nation in many respects.
They are shy and they are not to accept help.
Seeking help from USA means they are in very unusual conditions.
I hope they survive this tragedy and rise again with the same grace.
Anne concluded her New Agey drivel letter:
“Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step” …..WTF??? TELL THAT TO THE 25,000 who died and their SURVIVING RELATIVES ANNE!……that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. AT THIS VERY MOMENT? O ANNE!…… “And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide.” OKAY THAT IS COOL…… “My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don’t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself.” WHAT PRAY TELL? YOUR BLESSED ENLIGHTENMENT?
“This wave of birthing (worldwide)” – BIRTHING? WTF? – “is hard, and yet magnificent.”
25,000 dead is MAGNIFENT O WHITE GODDESS? Yuck again
“Thank you again for your care and Love of me,”
WTF? Love with a CAP L, thus sounds like a cult? Satoyama maybe?
With Love in return, to you all
I was talking about this just last night — the over-reaching for optimism to the extent of ignoring the awful reality, creating an uncomfortable feeling of something near smugness. I said that that super-moon may indeed have affected my thinking, or maybe I too was desperate for any kind of light. And then this morning, I found Dany’s magnificent rant on Anne’s letter.
Anybody else get this feeling from Anne’s letter? Or do you think Dany’s over-stating it?
[Extracts from Dany's reply to criticism of him on the same issue on another blog -- http://www.theidproject.org/blog/joren/2011/03/17/japan-one-step-sendai-anne-thomas#comment-5784
What i object to in her letter is this "OH I FEEL SO BLESSED BY THE
COSMOS TO BE HERE IN DISASTER CENTRAL COSMOS AND WITNESS THE SHEER DESTRUCTION OF EARTH O I AM SO BLESSED." Blessed? This use of the word BLESSED is what got my angry. [....]
LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT : she is blessed to be in a disaster zone
so she can say GRATITUDE to her NEW AGE view of the Cosmos in the
midst of all the 25,000 people who died and their relatives who are
surviving? Oh, typical White man’s woman’s view of life again. OH I AM
SO LUCKY AND BLESSED TO HAVE WITNESSED FIRSTHAND THE TSUNAMI in
THAILAND so that I can SAY THANKS to universe for my being alive and
loving sunsets and sunrises…
“There is nothing wrong with being hopeful enough to think that this
noble response and communal existence is more akin to how most humans
wish to behave towards each other.” YES YES YES. I AGREE HERE
“There is nothing wrong with believing we can evolve towards a better
way of treating each other”. YES YES YES
“There is nothing wrong with having death and destruction make us
realize that there are more important things in the world than money.”
YES YES YES
BUT DOES SHE HAVE TO SAY BLESSED!!!!
Theres nothing wrong in expressing gratitude.
Blessed are not chosen one.
Many are saved from disaster some think its shear luck…good for them.
Some prayed and saved…they acknowledged the gratitude…blessed is the best word to use.
Blessed is not condescending unless its attached with a group.
Anne must be in deep distress why she is white.
Had she been black or brown we could have another set of argument on her blessed nature.
its assumed we believe in God because we are chosen OR Ignorant.
Look for a way in between…you can find many.