It was a Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 5:14 pm. News of Haiti spread across the world - an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, with 15 aftershocks measuring up to 4.0. Thousands are killed, thousands more are injured. Buildings are destroyed. Many are trapped. Some will be freed. Others will die right where they lay. A 7 year old child searches among the dead for his family. A 2 year old is pulled from the rubble, alive. Another 7 year old is hanging by his clothing 20 feet in the air. He will be rescued. I was watching TV and wondered about the person whose arm I could see waving through a crack in his concrete tomb. What would his story be?
There was a need in Haiti the day before the earthquake. Haiti also needed help the day before that...and the day before that. Haiti has needed help for years. I don't know anything about it's political situation. I admit, I'm not interested enough in politics. I know very little about it's culture and it's geography. I do know that it is spelled Haiti, not Hati. I do know that it is sandwiched between the Dominican Republic (my other home), and Jamaica (my first home), and is 1/3 of the island of Hispaniola. I do know that it is the poorest and most illiterate country in the western hemisphere. Yes, and (like Jamaica) it also has a portion of the population (who few ever mention) that is very wealthy and very well educated. It has world class art and artists and, it has much more to offer us.
This earthquake has brought much needed attention to this blessed country. It is sad, very sad, that it took this magnitude of death and destruction to wake some of us up, to get us to look up from our iPhones and Blackberries and to see the world around us. Within hours, millions of dollars were raised. We had this capability all along. We have the means to heal the world. We always have. Cries for help were ignored. It took a blood curdling scream to get our attention. All of a sudden, downloading the next app. was not so important. All of a sudden, having a flat screen TV was not so important. All of a sudden. NO! Not all of a sudden. It's a choice. A choice you can make for yourself, everyday. It comes from within.
You were awakened. Hopefully you choose to stay awake. You can also go back to sleep because you did your part - you sent a text and donated $5! Five dollars – what it cost for a cup of gourmet coffee at a boutique coffee shop where we go so we can feel special for a few minutes.
Yes, I am angry. Get angry too...and don't waste your energy getting angry with me, criticizing me and my words. Don't waste your energy defending your life. Do something, anything, everyday.
I have 7 children! Three of them live with me - 14 years old. 11. 8. Four of them don't - Steven lives in Columbia. He will be 9 this month. Rabiou lives in Niger. He turned 9 in January. Mariela is 12 and lives in the Dominican Republic. Nimesha lives in Sri Lanka. She will be 15 this year. (She wants to be a nurse when she grows up so she can help people.)
My car is 10 years old. I don't have a flat screen TV yet (because the TVs I do have still work.) I have the education to pursue careers that could fill my days with work. I don't want to work all day. I want to play all day. I want to do what feels good to me, on the inside. What matters to me is having the means to experience life and help others. Sometimes that takes money, some times that takes time. Helping others and being present - this is my choice.
I will be honest. I have a hard time with Christmas (and all the prescribed days of celebration like Valentine's Day and Mother's Day). It just does not make sense to me (on so many levels). I do not flow with the rhythm that is publicly presented. For me, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, don't happen on a specific day, they are everyday. It's a state of mind. A choice. A choice to be. A choice to do.
I do love music and its power of expression. If I may, I would like to share some of the lyrics from 2 of my favourite Christmas songs. The first one is:
Don't Save it All for Christmas Day, by Celine Dion
Don't get so busy that you miss giving just a little kiss to the ones you love. Don't even wait a little while, to give them a little smile. A little is enough. How many people are crying. People are dying....How many people are asking for love.
Don't save it all for Christmas Day. Find a way to give a little love everyday. Don't save it all for Christmas Day. Find your way. 'Cause holidays have come and gone but love lives on, if you give on. Love...
The other one is, My Grown Up Christmas List (lyrics by Linda Thompson Jenner)
Do you remember me? I sat upon your knee. I wrote to you with childhood fantasies. Well, I'm all grown up now , and still need help somehow. I'm not a child, but my heart still can dream. So here's my lifelong wish, my grown up Christmas list, not for myself, but for a world in need:
No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown up Christmas list.
As children we believed. The grandest sight to see, was something lovely wrapped beneath our tree. Well heaven only knows, that packages and bows, can never heal a hurting human soul ...
I do not judge what you do. I have no opinion on the choices you make. We are all here to do the same thing. We all have the same purpose – to open our hearts. How we accomplish this purpose is unique to each of us. Maybe you can't change the world. You can change your world.
Are you doing what you really want to do? How is this of service to your world?
What did you do today that will make a difference? Find a way to give a little love everyday. Find your way!
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Namaste.
I honour the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.
