I have been struggling with this missive for days.
My mission here is finding and creating joy in a sucky-ass world. I have a mini-existential crisis almost every week in which I question my audacity to carry on polishing turds while the world falls down around us.
Literally the world collapsing and washing away.
I live 150 miles from the center of where Hurricane Helene struck last week. Six days later and still so many here are without power. Stoplights are out. Trees and limbs are still strewn about.
But this is nothing compared to Western North Carolina. This mountainous area, 300 miles from the coast, has been destroyed. Houses, roads, bridges, and entire towns have been washed away. Hundreds of people are missing.
It’s difficult to convey the full extent of the annihilation. My social feeds are a torrent of desperate pleas for information on missing loved ones, videos of houses floating away, and before-and-after comparisons.
It hurts my heart. It cracks my heart wide open, and not in the good way.
But there is something else.
There is help, so much of it.
Some aid comes from organizations designed to operate in these conditions: Red Cross, FEMA, World Central Kitchen, etc. Every non-profit around Asheville, NC has mobilized to offer whatever support they can. And so much assistance is coming from people. Just people. Friends here in Savannah have rented a giant U-Haul and are filling it with supplies like baby formula, clothes, food, water, menstrual products, and other necessities to drive to Asheville. Mountain Mule Packer Ranch has been sending mules loaded with supplies to those trapped without accessible roads. Citizens are opening up their homes to others who have lost every single thing, including their town. People are helping people.
It’s so easy to fall down a rabbit hole of pessimism. This tragedy will disappear from the media in a week. The GoFundMes are fake. There are other, bigger, tragedies all over the world. A threat of nuclear war. The outcome of the election. A strike among dock workers. The internet trolls who claim this is a hoax. The conspiracy theories.
I won’t stand for this mud in my poor broken heart. I’m not reading the comments.
We all know the Mr Rogers quote, “look for the helpers.”
For us grown-ups, it implies the more important: “Be the helpers.”
To ease the suffering or pain of one other soul is to add a spark of joy in the world.
This is what we need right now.
Just do something, even if it’s the smallest something.
Each little action generates a wee light in the world. What seems like a tiny favor is part of a bigger deal. Picture a giant cosmic disco ball, rotating above us. Now picture each of these little lights of love reflected off of the hundreds of mirrors covering the surface of the ball. Imagine the brilliance, the sparkle, the illumination. Imagine how much darkness we can cast away.
Imagine the light of all of our goodness magnified, combined and reflecting, dancing all around us, sparkly little rainbows of joy swirling in our midst. Will it fix the problems? Probably nope. Will it improve our lives? Most definitely yup.
It doesn’t take a whole heap to glow. Your slightest gesture brightens up the world.
Go forth and shine.
Your turd polishing fills me with hope!
Thank you for your inspiring words and more importantly, for practicing what you preach.
I'd like to think we aren't strangers anymore 🤗💜