Wow, what a week! I finally arrived home after 3 days of being stuck in NYC without any power, hot water or cell service. It was quite an experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life. I am sure you have seen many photos of the heartbreaking devastation hurricane Sandy caused. It seems surreal that I was right in the middle of it all. In fact the place I stayed was less than a block away from the building in the picture below. It looked like a dollhouse the way you could see inside to all the furniture. So crazy!
I love New York City and think it is the greatest city in the world, but by Thursday morning I was thrilled to be at La Guardia airport boarding my flight. I never thought I would be so happy to be leaving because normally I pray to have a couple extra days in the big apple (careful what you wish for!)
While on my flight home, I thought to myself, if I could go back in time and choose whether or not to experience it over again or not, I honestly wouldn’t change a thing. I feel like there was a reason I was there at that particular time, and learnt some pretty amazing life lessons too:
1. We are only animals and nature is a fierce, tremendous force that can take us down in an instant. As humans we think we are pretty damn special (and we are!) but the power we have is so insignificant in compassion to the universe. I for one have more respect than ever before. Mother nature is one powerful lady!
2. It’s ok to be a little uncomfortable from time to time. It didn’t kill me not to shower for 2 (or 3!) days, eat nothing but dry food and use candles for light. And it was ok if there were no screens or technology and that the only noise was laughter and conversation. It felt really really weird to look out and see total darkness and hear practically no street noise in a city like NYC, but it was also profoundly peaceful.
3. If you can’t get everything done that you planned, the world really doesn’t end! Since Make It Vancouver is next weekend this is a really busy time for me. I get well over a hundred emails in my inbox per day and it takes me hours to reply to them all, let alone all the other stuff on my to do list. I always pride myself on getting everything done, but during Sandy this wasn’t possible. And you know what? It was ok! Everyone totally understood and made me feel alright about it.
4. We really are all the same. I have always heard of people coming together during a crisis and it was magnificent to experience it first hand. Normally NYC is not known for being the friendliest place in the world, but during Sandy I spoke to so many strangers and even hugged a few. The 3 friends I stayed with became my “storm sisters” and we are now bonded in a way we otherwise never would have been. It is so amazing how disaster really does bring people together.
You might never experience a natural disaster (and I pray you don’t!) but if you do go through some sort of crazy circumstance as I recently did, I hope you can walk away from it with a deeper sense of self and the universe. Life’s a journey and not a destination…as they say.
Sparkly love and happy weekend,
Jenna
Pssst! Since the deadline for Cha Chingle Bells was on Halloween and I didn’t get to properly announce it, I have decided to extend the deadline till next week. So, if you want to rock your holiday sales, you best get on it 🙂