It’s amazing how much we rely on certain things in life. Call them your “baselines.” Perhaps your baseline is that you will keep your job, have a car that runs or have a loved one always there for you… yet all these things (or persons) will pass you by, sooner or later.
For me, my baseline was electricity. Another big storm has hit the U.S., and this time it’s once again in my neck of the woods, the Bay Area. Powerful gusts over the night eventually knocked out the power this morning.
At first, nothing changed. I still reached for the light switch, looked at the clock and put my food in the microwave. After my experctations weren’t met, I remembered the reality of the situation: there is no power. And I have struggled to feel powerless.
All today, I’ve had to re-think the answers to many of my questions: Don’t know something? Look it up online… oh, wait. Need to email someone? Just… nope. Get some reading done? Snuggle up in a chair and… better be by a window.
Gradually I’ve transitioned into a different state, were power is not just in electrons and time does not feel like eons. I can still read for my classes, write thank you notes (long overdue), reflect on life, play guitar, meditate… and just be, with out the need for excessive energy.
For after all, electricity is a luxury: one-third (over 2 billion) of the world’s population do without it everyday. Taking one more step in solidarity – not by choice, but lived into.
Oh, and how was I able to write this? With the wonderful invention of battery power… only to post it later when all’s back to ‘normal.’
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