I simply cannot process the devastation that I have been unable to look away from on the news this past week due to the horrific fires throughout Los Angeles. As I look at the images of entire communities that were thriving on Tuesday morning and completely wiped out… like non-existent on Wednesday night… the only comparison would be the aftermath of a massive wartime attack. Just heartbreaking.
As I listen to the interviews of people who have lost their homes and every single thing in those homes as well as the “lucky” few that are now overcome with guilt due to their property miraculously being spared by the inferno… I just can’t stop thinking about perspective. How we go through our days dealing with whatever it is that we personally are going through at the moment and allow ourselves to get unbelievably wrapped up in the drama of it all until something like this happens… that shakes us to our core and snaps the reality of life back into focus. Events such as these force us to take a step back from our own personal journey and gives us the “gift” of the ‘birds eye view’ vantage point so we can remember how small we are in the big picture of our collective lives. It opens our eyes and hearts to the realization that we are stronger together than we are alone and it takes the village as a whole for the individual within that village to thrive.
We see the unimaginable destruction but within this destruction we also see neighbors working together to extinguish a fire in the front yard of a neighbor’s house who is not home. We see strangers hugging each other on street corners as they canvas what used to be their neighborhood looking for surviving homes and belongings in those homes. We see the first responders working throughout the day and night to try to save as many lives as they can and then direct their focus on saving the material aspects of these people’s lives. We see unity through tragedy… we see empathy through incredible loss… we see community through the destruction of communities.
Personally… I have felt an overwhelming sense of helpless-ness. When thinking about imprisonment… the thought of horrific mass events happening in your community outside the gates of your “cage”… is not something that immediately comes to mind. But sitting in the TV room… listening through headphones and watching alongside other helpless “homeboys” as our families evacuate their homes… as we see the streets we used to walk and the restaurants we used to eat at burned beyond recognition… we feel the weight of our decisions in a way that I have never felt prior to this past week. I have certainly felt the weight in extremely “close to home” ways as it relates to parenting… missing my boys’ every day lives and the lives of my family and friends but not in this way. I could do nothing but wait in line to attempt to call my ‘tribe’ out there and let them know that I am thinking about them… and I love them and I need them to stay safe. And then 15 minutes is up and I am back to my chair in the TV room to watch the destruction right outside these gates… helplessly hopeful that it will be okay. It is certainly heavy and a feeling that I (and I know many others in here) will not soon forget.
I hope everyone in the Los Angeles area stays as safe as possible out there. And although I am sure that helpless feeling permeates far beyond these gates… we must continue to lift each other up and lean on one another through this impossibly trying time. And as each day leaves these flames one day farther in the past… know that we are one day closer to the new beginning that lies ahead.
It will never be the same but hold onto the memories of what was… and begin to focus on the building of what will be.
Stay Healthy. Stay Active. Stay Hopeful.