Sunday, January 17, 2010

Spirit of the People

It took me two days before I could sit and watch the coverage of Haiti.  I took it in by listening to the tv while my hands were either stitching, cooking, typing, ironing. For the first 2 days of the tragedy I had to read the news online.  Sometimes the visual viewing is too much too soon and confuses my spirit...its like I have to seperate the words from the images in order for my mind to begin to merge the reality of the moment.  Digesting collective tragedies opens up the door for all tragedies that have preceded and that will come and time seems ever more circular and convoluted. 


Even though I was in both the studio and the workshop and kept myself occupied, my spirit was detached. Has this been your experience also?  I was helped by spending some time with my Mama yesterday at a NCNW (National Council of Negro Women) Breakfast in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.  There is some type of healing balm when folk gather together in good spirit. 


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3 comments:

  1. My mind goes all haywire when I watch and listen to too much coverage. I have given money, but what else can I do? It is so tragic. These are people who had nothing and now they have less than nothing. Perhaps out of this tragedy will dawn a better day for the Haitian people. We can only hope and pray.

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  2. gathering in good spirit. i so love the sound of that....yes

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  3. I know you have to be really carefulwhat you wish for but still I find myself wishing I had experienced detachment. Instead I went into an emotion overdrive - this is what comes of knowing a number of first responders and, thus, having a saturated amount of information before I even get as far as actual news sources. Which I seek because over time and a number of potentially numbing disasters I have found that I really need to balance what I hear from direct sources with a broader range of focus via the media. It's a delicate balance that needs constant calibration. And now I find that balancing process requires the nourishment of solitude and tasks that are mindful without being too mentally or emotionally/psychically challenging.

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