A football field next to a high school. It looks so neat and orderly, unlike the world at this chaotic moment in time.
It was quite the juxtaposition yesterday, looking at photos of the devastation in Japan while simultaneously listening to loud birdsong right outside my window. The thought came to me that birds will keep on singing until the day their species comes to an end. It's spring, hence time to chirp, time to sing.
I remember reading that just prior to the tsunami in 2003, the animals in Sri Lanka and other places moved to higher ground. They felt it coming, and did what they could to avoid it. I wonder if they were frightened. I wonder if, on the morning following the tsunami, the birds in Sri Landa chirped again, as usual, as if everything was normal.
Don't know about you, but I feel that in some way my personal shoreline has been moved slightly by the earthquake. I feel the center of my personal rotation has shifted on its axis by an increment or two. Maybe because I'm a shaman, maybe because I'm a human being, I feel connected to the people in Japan right now, connected to the landscape.
I've read some pieces that refer to the "retaliation" of Mama Gaia, as if the earthquake had anything to do with us. The earth shakes and rolls, erupts, floods, dries out. She always has since long before us. Birds sing and the earth shakes. Same as it ever was. For heaven's sake, though it has its terrible impact on us, this is not about us. My, my.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Japan. And the people of Egypt, Libya, Wisconsin. A friend suggested that those of us so inclined might sing calm prayers for healing. Kind of like the birds, that is my plan for today, between clients. I'll be singing because it's the only thing I can do. I'll be singing. Shalom.
13 comments:
Sometimes, when I'm watching the world from my studio window and listening to the birds I wonder if the world, nature and the animals feel we are just a bother. I find I cry now when I watch the images from Japan so I'm going to focus on healing thoughts and prayers and avoid watching any more.
I think we are the only species to be so essentially self-loathing.
Just before I read this, I heard "Sing" by My Chemical Romance on the radio. Very fitting.
I too feel shaken, so to speak, by the earthquake. I found myself sleeping a lot in the couple of days following, and when I lied down for a nap one of those days, in that half-awake state, I had a sudden vivid image of a building plowing toward me on the water.
Don't tune in too closely to the energy, ok? Just touch it, then sing. xx
I just laugh when some preachy type tries to tell me that natural disasters are god's punishment for our sins.I really haven't seen much of the news about Japan. Only one or two short videos. the power of water is so amazing. I learned to respect it above all else on the river.
Singing is good.
and I like it very much that the notion that the earth is reacting to us personally is called the Pathetic Fallacy.
Ha ha!
The earth, the continents, the mountains and volcanoes, the clouds and the waves, they have been moving and rolling since time began, and yes, the birds have been singing their songs all along. This is NOT about us. We have multiplied so much, there are so many of us who have moved close to shores, up on mountains, it was our decision. We are only part of the living earth.
Somehow I find this knowledge very soothing.
do wah ditty, ditty dum ditty doo
i join with you for a cosmic sing - we could use a global blessingway about now.
wow those photos POP
The Pathetic Fallacy - indeed! I love that, too.
Reya, I came over from "Ed and Reub" because your name sounds so familiar that I should think--given its uniqueness--that we've communicated in some form before. Since I'm writing this, I can only hope it was in a positive context. Ha.
Snowbrush is my atheist blog-friend and geographical neighbor; looks like he beat me here tonight. If you two ever meet, I want to be there.
What you have written in this post resonates with me. And I am amazed by the choice of photos that you have paired with your thoughts: very cool and thought-provoking.
Thanks, Kerry!
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