Quaking in My Boots: A Lesson in Pespective (aka, We Had an Earthquake Yesterday)

Photo via survival-goods.com

So yeah, we had an earthquake in VA yesterday. I know, everyone has already heard all about it because it was ALL over the news yesterday, but I'm here to tell you that although it didn't feel like that much (former-Californians who now live in DC, I'm talking to you!), it definitely made everyone here stop and think. I'll spare you the entire "where I was when the Earthquake of 2011 hit VA" story, but I will say that I was in my apartment and at first, I just thought a really heavy person was walking around in the apartment above me. Except that then they started shaking the entire building and knocking things off of my shelves, so I knew that it was either a really, really big and angry person (read: Giant) or an earthquake. And a quake it was.

If you didn't experience at least a tremor or two yesterday, take my word for it that this VA quake did everything a proper, small and non-damaging earthquake is supposed to do. I'll summarize with a few obvious puns: it shook us up. It rocked our solid, bureaucratic world. It had us quaking in our boots and holding onto walls to steady ourselves.  But you know what? A small earthquake wasn't enough drama in one day for this girl...

About an hour later, I settled down out on one of our balconies (the one that we never use) with my laptop to try and get some work done. I kept getting voicemail messages that would come through on my phone, but no missed calls since the cell service in DC was so messed up. Finally, I had gotten enough messages that I thought I should try to go inside and try to return a call or two, but when I got up I realized that I'd locked myself out of my apartment--on my balcony. On any other day, this would have been my big news of the day. Ben is out of town, I have no cell service, and I've locked myself out of my apartment (on a balcony, nonetheless). But today, this was just a small story on the back page of the paper. I had a few moments where I imagined myself living on my balcony for the entire week, hungry, thirsty, trying to throw things down at people on the street to get their attention--and then I remembered that I had my laptop, my phone (which eventually started working again), that I live on the second floor and could easily talk to someone on the street, and that if it really came down to it, I could always break the glass door in desperation. Needless to say, things worked out. I was embarrassed, yes, but was able to pull it together enough to call down to the front desk and ask someone to come let me out...

But I'm getting off track here because this post isn't about locking myself out of my apartment right after experiencing my first earthquake...it's about perspective. And my point is that both of these events, one after another, reminded me of a few important things yesterday:

1. The minor earthquake that we experienced put the "disaster" of locking myself out of my apartment into perspective--it was nothing compared to an earthquake (albeit a small one)--and these "significant" events in our daily life, that often throw us into a stressed out tizzy, are really nothing to worry about in the grand scheme of things. Why do I normally let these kinds of events get me down?

2. Although for some of us in VA this quake was earth-shattering and extremely scary, it was nothing to my Californian-friends who now live in DC--another great reminder of how everything comes down to our perception. If we see something as a big deal, if we've never been exposed to an event (or an emotion, feeling, type of pain, etc) like this before, we may perceive it as more than it actually is. We often blow things up in our minds or experience them as more dire, stressful, or miserable than they are because our ego likes to do this to us. It's a lot easier if we take a step back and look at the big picture and what is really important in life.

3. This tiny little earthquake that "shook things up" in DC and VA was nothing compared to actual natural disasters that cause injuries, death, and destruction. It made me feel extremely thankful and fortunate that it wasn't something bigger--and was a great reminder to think of those who are still struggling from natural disasters that truly destroyed their lives and to send healing thoughts their way.

So seriously, does it take an earthquake for us to stop and think about things, or put things into perspective? Nature has a funny way of reminding us how little control we really have in our own daily lives.

And on a lighter note, what is it going to take to make me FINALLY just fill out the forms for renter's insurance, which I've been meaning to get done for months now? Sadly, that was a thought that I had after I settled down from the big event...

Glad that everyone is safe and we were just rocked a bit. Thinking of those who have undergone real, life-shattering natural disasters. And here's to a quake-free day in the DC metro region...

Namaste,
Mary Catherine

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