The butterfly effect
Australia, New Zealand, Japan. I felt numb looking at parts of the first underwater, stunned to see Christchurch in ruins, then couldn't take it any longer when I saw parts of Hokkaido levelled. Staying up late, knuckles white around an office chair edge, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down my face, mourning the dead and hoping for the missing.
Hugh Levinson, a BBC correspondent in Japan, says this:
"An ever-present sense of disaster is deeply woven into traditional ways. Japanese culture has long-prized fragility, impermanence, transience. The cherry blossom is the most prized of all expressions of nature because it achieves such a brief perfection before falling carelessly. Samurai - so it was said - gave up their lives with similar carelessness, because their honour was more important. Zen teaching praised the way bamboo's flexibility gave it a special strength. Subjected to force it sways and bends. It does not snap."
The full story, titled "Japan: A fragile country at the mercy of nature," is here.
Some people lament how much smaller the world's getting metaphorically. I argue that this brings us closer together emotionally. I was telling Navitas, being naturally more concerned about the world at large since he's Canadian, that Americans have progressively given more of a shit since 2001 and even moreso since 2005. More of us read the news now. More of us keep up with what's going on. Ever since the presidential election upheaval in 2004, people have been paying more attention. Since the 2008 presidential election, more Americans been convinced that their opinions matter and that by God, they'd better start paying some attention.
I explained how world events are more likely to impact more of us personally now, starting with the military families, but much more with xenophiles like myself. I gave the example of how I have two casual e-pals in Poland. That meant that when President Kaczyński died last April, I sent them my condolences. I see this as not just courtesies paid to friends, but as an important thing to do to improve the reputation of my own countrymen abroad. You know, like the reasons President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps.
They have three goals: (1) Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, (2) Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and (3) Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. I can't very well manage the first one right now, but certainly everybody in this country can manage (2) and (3) in their interactions with people from elsewhere.
So when an earthquake hit Christchurch, I felt leaden fingers of panic close over my heart, wondering how the staff and stock of Home of Poi was faring, how they were affected by the disaster. I know practically every serious practitioner of movement and fire arts on earth was thinking the same thing - not just "Oh shit, am I going to be able to order fire implements?" but "Are Malcolm Crawshay and his crew okay?" (And not in that order.) They are, for the record. Note Malcolm says they have to carry on with business as usual as fast as they can manage to help the local economy, so I did, in fact, place an order. Not just because, but because I needed an instructional DVD for hooping and reckoned I'd buy that copy of Fire All-Stars I've always wanted.
Which brings me to Yuta, Okotanpe, and Dai (who has his own site). Yuta and Dai are both featured in Fire All-Stars. Most fire spinners in the world that are really hardcore into the international scene as centered around Flowtoys, Playpoi, Instruments of the Now, Nevisoul, and Poi Community know who they are. They're okay as well. Yuta put up his own account of the goings-on in English on the Poi Community site. Of course my old friend saymark2 is living in central Honshu, but thankfully was too far away to be hurt. Things in his apartment were knocked over and he has to deal with periodic scheduled power outages, but he's fine.
From Katrina to the tsunami in Thailand to the earthquakes in São Paulo, Pakistan, and Guangzhou, I feel like people here are more in touch with the realities that we're all in this together, that burying our heads in the sand simply isn't an option. We're better people now, and I hope we continue to get better. More of us realise we're really all the same when you get down to it. By that I mean it took some of us having the Dalai Lama point out that everybody on earth's got at least one thing in common, and that is that none of us want to suffer. And if you keep that in mind all the time, you find you cannot be cruel to anyone. It's stunning seeing South Korean rescue teams show up in Japan, what with their ugly history together. People put aside their differences in times like these because they know there are much bigger things going on. Even New Zealand is offering to help when they've got their own problems to worry about. It's amazing, really.
Hugh Levinson, a BBC correspondent in Japan, says this:
"An ever-present sense of disaster is deeply woven into traditional ways. Japanese culture has long-prized fragility, impermanence, transience. The cherry blossom is the most prized of all expressions of nature because it achieves such a brief perfection before falling carelessly. Samurai - so it was said - gave up their lives with similar carelessness, because their honour was more important. Zen teaching praised the way bamboo's flexibility gave it a special strength. Subjected to force it sways and bends. It does not snap."
The full story, titled "Japan: A fragile country at the mercy of nature," is here.
Some people lament how much smaller the world's getting metaphorically. I argue that this brings us closer together emotionally. I was telling Navitas, being naturally more concerned about the world at large since he's Canadian, that Americans have progressively given more of a shit since 2001 and even moreso since 2005. More of us read the news now. More of us keep up with what's going on. Ever since the presidential election upheaval in 2004, people have been paying more attention. Since the 2008 presidential election, more Americans been convinced that their opinions matter and that by God, they'd better start paying some attention.
I explained how world events are more likely to impact more of us personally now, starting with the military families, but much more with xenophiles like myself. I gave the example of how I have two casual e-pals in Poland. That meant that when President Kaczyński died last April, I sent them my condolences. I see this as not just courtesies paid to friends, but as an important thing to do to improve the reputation of my own countrymen abroad. You know, like the reasons President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps.
They have three goals: (1) Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women, (2) Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served, and (3) Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. I can't very well manage the first one right now, but certainly everybody in this country can manage (2) and (3) in their interactions with people from elsewhere.
So when an earthquake hit Christchurch, I felt leaden fingers of panic close over my heart, wondering how the staff and stock of Home of Poi was faring, how they were affected by the disaster. I know practically every serious practitioner of movement and fire arts on earth was thinking the same thing - not just "Oh shit, am I going to be able to order fire implements?" but "Are Malcolm Crawshay and his crew okay?" (And not in that order.) They are, for the record. Note Malcolm says they have to carry on with business as usual as fast as they can manage to help the local economy, so I did, in fact, place an order. Not just because, but because I needed an instructional DVD for hooping and reckoned I'd buy that copy of Fire All-Stars I've always wanted.
Which brings me to Yuta, Okotanpe, and Dai (who has his own site). Yuta and Dai are both featured in Fire All-Stars. Most fire spinners in the world that are really hardcore into the international scene as centered around Flowtoys, Playpoi, Instruments of the Now, Nevisoul, and Poi Community know who they are. They're okay as well. Yuta put up his own account of the goings-on in English on the Poi Community site. Of course my old friend saymark2 is living in central Honshu, but thankfully was too far away to be hurt. Things in his apartment were knocked over and he has to deal with periodic scheduled power outages, but he's fine.
From Katrina to the tsunami in Thailand to the earthquakes in São Paulo, Pakistan, and Guangzhou, I feel like people here are more in touch with the realities that we're all in this together, that burying our heads in the sand simply isn't an option. We're better people now, and I hope we continue to get better. More of us realise we're really all the same when you get down to it. By that I mean it took some of us having the Dalai Lama point out that everybody on earth's got at least one thing in common, and that is that none of us want to suffer. And if you keep that in mind all the time, you find you cannot be cruel to anyone. It's stunning seeing South Korean rescue teams show up in Japan, what with their ugly history together. People put aside their differences in times like these because they know there are much bigger things going on. Even New Zealand is offering to help when they've got their own problems to worry about. It's amazing, really.