I rarely pass along "reports from the field". But this one touched me. She is a friend of a friend. She lives in Sendai and has for 10 years or so. The difficulty with news reports at a time like this is that they are trying to show so many things, they never get a sense of how things really area.
So this may add some context for some of you. I felt more peaceful and less afraid after I read it. Perhaps you will too....
Subject: light
First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am
very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you
all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.
Things 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
even more worthy of that name, I am now 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.
Utterly amazingly, 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 has been on 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 view of the mountains at Sendai is clear 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 a
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,
Have a great journey today!
Barbara