The Winter Blahs

I read somewhere about mid-January being one of the most popular times for people to take their own lives. The holiday hooplah is over, daylight is too short and the weather is ridiculous in most parts of our country. The news channels get past all the warm and fuzzy holiday news stories and onto the shootings, the failing economy, anything depressing. Preparations for Lent and Easter haven't even begun, spring seems an eternity away. And then throw in St. Valentine's Day being a difficult day if you aren't paired up with your soulmate yet. I can see why it's a tough time of the year.

I'm trying to stay upbeat myself. We are both employed- so far. Though both of our companies have let people go and may/will continue to. My company cut all of our salaries by 10%. I have a few groups of good friends- I enjoy the company of my co-workers, I have a group of moms that I get together with, I've been pretty close to my family and cousins, and my high school friends are still around in my life. The kids are happy and hilarious.

I think things like the recent airplane landing in the Hudson river have a place in our lives. They are there to inspire. Everyone came out of a plane with no engine power that crashed into a river. Alive and mostly unharmed! It reminds me of the earthquake I was in back in 2001. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday and the downtown area of Pioneer Square experienced a lot of looting. People overturning cars, just being obnoxious and destructive. It was all over the news and scary. So the next day, Ash Wednesday, I went to work (in Pioneer Square) and early in the morning there was a 6.4ish earthquake. Since that particular area is "built on garbage" it is not quite steady and it was quite the earthquake ride! Wow it was scary. But what struck me was the reaction after. The news crews were still in the area filming the morning news live in location from the previous looting and we all huddled around their tv's watching the size and extent of the damage. Our building was "red tagged" and we were not allowed to re-enter. There was a woman who had an antique shop in our building and she had spent the night guarding her store. With the earthquake, everything fell off the shelves. She came out crying and we all hugged her.

Very few cell phones were working (the systems were clogged) but those that were, people will willing to share. It was a general commotion of everyone running around checking on everyone else and making sure no one was hurt. Such a stark contrast to the night before where people had been destroying and galavanting and trampling had occurred.

My personal theory is that God decided Seattle needed a good swift kick in the pants to start appreciating what we have and working together. The economy was also failing at the time, and the earthquake brought work to a lot of architects, contractors, etc etc to repair and restore. It was practically the only work in our office at the time I know. So maybe the Hudson river landing was a kick in the pants that while the economy looks bleak and no one has money, life will move on and we just need to work together a bit more. At least I can hope right?!