Devil’s Advocate…Be Here Now

Earlier this May, I watched helplessly as part of the community I have been a part of for more than a decade was incinerated by molten rock in Leilani, Hawaii. It happened both very quickly and slowly. Agonizingly slowly. Cracks under homes and streets opened up and lava erupted out, flooding Leilani in molten rock over days.  To lose a home in a tornado, hurricane, or flood would be terrifying and ferocious. To lose a home from the steady march of a lava flow is a different type of torture. It’s hard to compare it to anything other than perhaps a slow-motion train crash where there’s plenty of time to get out of the way, but there’s no way to stop that which leads to inevitable destruction.

As new fissures erupted, residents were forced to evacuate in the dead of night with little to no belongings, and neighbors helped neighbors by inviting the newly homeless into their houses. People helped rescue pets. Others provided information and updates on the status of their homes. Seeing my community in Leilani work together to ensure everyone who was evacuated (or lost their home) has a place to stay has been truly remarkable and rejuvenating to witness. I know that after all this is over, although the subdivision may be permanently physically scarred, the members of the community will be tightly stitched together to heal the wounds of loss.

If there’s anything that has been more solidified in my mind as true, it’s that there are few guarantees in life. Witnessing how neighbors were volunteering their time made me think of all the time I have lived and have yet to live. What will I do with my time?

It is important to remember that from time to time we do have choices. What we do with the time we have is who we are. We have a choice to be here now; not just physically present, but really present, and aware of our surroundings. Are we doing what we truly want to be doing? For instance, I am guilty of sitting before a computer screen in virtual reality too often for my liking instead of interacting in the real thing.

Figure out how much of your lifetime you spend doing things you genuinely feel you shouldn’t do but do anyway because it’s convenient. How many days… or years, are we not living our lives as we would like? For instance, if one watches an average of just an hour of television per day throughout their life, that’s 3.5 years of their life if one lives to be 84 years old. I don’t want to ask myself, “What else could I have done in those 3.5 years of life?” because I know I’ll come up with plenty of answers.

Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to become involved in one’s immediate environment. It is my hope we here in Fillmore County don’t need to experience another Rushford flood, small business fires, or county-wide tornado destruction to be here now with others experiencing this thing called life. Perhaps it’s getting involved in the local garden club or book club. Perhaps it’s spending more time in your community with neighbors to build a network of trust that transcends personal differences, like politics or religion! Perhaps it’s meditating alone in the woods by yourself, noticing the birds, or soaking in the sun and the smells of the world around without the sound of traffic. Anyone can do whatever they want. I’m a firm believer in the “you-do-you” philosophy so long as it doesn’t negatively affect others.

It’s okay to escape reality for a while, to clear one’s thoughts, but I fear what happens when my brain isn’t being used to imagine things because they’re already being imagined for me on two-dimensional screens. I also fear what I’ll miss in the real world. I don’t know how many more times I’ll see my family, but any number is too few.

What you do is who you are. I encourage you to be here now, while you are still around, because our one life goes by quickly and sometimes without notice.

Cheers.