Two nights ago there was an earthquake in the middle of the night. It was intensity 5. Don't know the magnitude, since what people here care about is how much it shakes. It was long. Short shakes are easy, but long ones... I thought my concern was for the people around me. Even checked on others in the sleeping quarters. Went back to sleep easily.
So I missed an important piece of what happened. First hint: I noticed an intensity 2 and was ready to move. I miss most of the 2s now.
Second hint: The dryer was running when I filled the washing machine just now, and I had to look up and check whether the rest of the building was shaking too. It felt remarkably like two nights ago.
Yeah, that quake scared me, and I need to admit that. And it was about half the intensity of the March 11 quake.
Some of the people I meet are talking about their fears about the next big earthquake. Many assume that there will be another, and that there will be another tsunami. They say "when." Hearing them say "if" is a gift to notice and treasure.
Perhaps they, like me, need to face the fact that this is a scary time, and not fall into denial. But it's also easy to assume that it'll always be this way, and let the quake win.
Until we look, and catch a glimpse of Life.
I'll be watching.
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