Chattering and hugging

My! It seems many things have been going on bringing more emotion into my life. Personal losses and the tragedy of Haiti, the economics playing out in this country, all  bring pain and reflection.  They have also brought re and new connections to family and friends.  I am blessed.

The image of the many coming from Haiti that has struck me most deeply is that of the people out in the streets, stunned, gathering together.  "And the walls come atumbling down." A powerful metaphor.  Recently there has been some writing on "shock" strategies and their use to manipulate people against their interests and on and on. Too often initially at least, we find meaning along the fringes of cataclysmic events and are blind to the greater.

Yes tragedy brings renewal of emotion and the human bonds and we cannot renounce it. Let's not forget also the images of Times Square on New Year's Eve or just this past Sunday New Orleans.  We are a chattering hugging species. It is part of how we celebrate an mourn events, great and small.  I will be writing for weeks of the joys of finding new friends and family and what each bring.

For those who like to point out our "dominance," I prefer "flourishing," on the planet I hope they will note this factor in making it so. It's when walls are breached,  in fact or reality, we go to the streets and exercise our greatest assets, each other.