"The Tsunami Reflection" a Sumatra Travel Page by SharrieShaw

Jan. 4, 2005

I once wrote in my Lhasa page that we all have different realities. Our culture, upbringing, circumstances, experiences & personalities all shape our “true” realities. With this in mind, this simply is my musing & effort in trying to make sense of the world. In this very instance, a world tragedy.

There are things & events in life where one simply has no clear answers.
Yet, as human beings, we try to make sense, to rationalize, to “tune” our emotions.
These are what most termed as rational behaviors.

My recent experience taught me that at times, the best “remedy” is simply to grief…
to cry…
to just let go.
To not think, to feel, to be human.
To fall to our knees & to surrender to the unknown.
That, in essence, is what being humans are about.
We do not know everything in life, we make mistakes, we learned from tragedy, we picked ourselves up & go on, the best we know how to.
In other words, we live to be survivors, to love life again & to have hope & faith that the future will be a better one.
It’s easy to write, to reflect & to think. But the hardest of it all, is to live through it!

I’ve been extremely lucky to have many things I want in life, to be blessed with the very best.
I’ve also been deprived of some of the most important things I desire.
Perhaps it’s simply a test, or a wake-up call … to keep things in perspective.

After 4 years of writing on this site, there came many a time when I was drained of inspiration, of having something significant to say or share.
Yet, with this awakening, I feel a need to write whatever my passing thoughts are, to put it into words, in its physical form… that may be someone would take solace in them… or may be, it’s simply my way of dealing with the world “reality”; that many who came from the same island had perished. & I pray that their souls be rested in peace.

A prayer from Marianne Williamson:

Prayer for Tsunami victims

Dear God,
Please work a miracle
in those whose lives were
lost or broken in the wake of the tsunami.
May Your hand upon them
bring comfort and peace.
May the love of the world
bring aid and relief.
Send a legion of angels
to their side,
to uplift them in their time of need.
And show us how we can serve.
Amen

To help:

A list of world organizations found on CNN.com.

For a full a/c of real life encounter, check out a VT member's & friend's account of the Sumatran Tsunami by Fernando Milmo.