Blog. A journal. I always have things to say in class and then I go blank at the thought of writing down my thoughts.

So, go back. Remember el derecho? Power lines were down. Trees were down. Roads were blocked. Meanwhile, it was 100 degrees. People lost power and water,  and then food. Many  had to stay somewhere else and take their pets with them. There were break-ins. Al l around our usual patterns were disrupted.

And in the chaos there was connection. Even as the electrical wires were not connecting, even as fewer people could be on the Internet or Facebook, there as connection. How? Some invited neighbors over to stay with them. One side of the street had power while the other did not, so long extension cords allowed the power to connect another household. A friend told me she quickly developed a new routine: she walked to Cups where she got coffee which she took back to her front porch where she sat and read the paper while drinking her coffee with her neighbor. Lights were out and people re-connected in ways they had not for a long time. People went to stay with friends or family members. Separate households became one...for awhile.

Another report was a neighbor who cooked all meat from the freezer on the grill and shared it with the neighborhood.

Everyone coped. It  wasn’t fun or what was expected or desired. The power returned in a couple days or was off for far longer than that. There were losses. At The Yoga Center we had power and kept the doors open for students to come practice yoga.

We stay in our houses. We lounge in the air conditioned spaces. We do not connect with our neighbors other than a brief wave as both back out of the driveway in the morning or take out the garbage bins. 

And in the warm darkness of no electricity and no electronics to divert us, maybe we reconnected within ourselves. I had electricity. I have no AC so there was no change there. The ceiling and floor fans were blowing the air around. I was still hot, but I did manage to re-assess. I noticed that I was having trouble hearing what people said or understanding the full impact. I had trouble communicating and being understood. I wasn’t certain if I was being heard for what I said and what I wanted.

And that realization made me go inside, go inside myself to see if I was truly listening to myself. If others had a hard time listening maybe that started within me. I found that I wasn’t treating myself well. I was frustrated with communication challenges and then would do something not healthy. For me it’s usually eating late at night, or staying up late. Or not meditating or doing my yoga practice. So I decided to re-group and start listening. One night, craving ice cream after yoga I found the ice cream place closed. Saved by their closure! I got up in the morning and returned to the yoga mat and my meditation cushion, for however briefly. I biked on the Greenway.

I worked on my 5^th chakra, the throat chakra. I tried opening my ears to hearing better, taking my time to try to understand better. I later learned that some of my feeling not heard was, of course, due to phone messages and emails not getting to the intended due to the power outages.

The black-out reminded me that we need to go within in order to be without. Ya know? We need to regroup and re-connect with ourselves before we can connect with others. As an introvert I really have to guard my alone time in order to regain energy spent on being with others. And yet I have chosen a livelihood with the intention of helping others. I can only do that if I help myself.

May we all take care of ourselves. May we practice healthy habits. May we share our good fortune with others. May we all know peace no matter what.