As we meet every Friday for the Hurricanes Support Group, I learn how interconnected and related we are. I try to imagine myself with no identification of who I am, no picture I.D., no social security card, and wondering when and if I’ll get money from FEMA for my two daughters in grammar school here in Salt Lake City. I try to feel the sense of helplessness that is expressed by those of us who are displaced.

Then I have the startling realization that even though I have all these symbols of identification, I wonder do I really know “who I am” beyond my resume of accomplishments. What would happen if someone asked us to describe ourselves without reference to what we looked like, what country we pledge allegiance to, what accomplishments we have earned, or family status we have. What would we say; after an infinity of silence.

I would like to claim that I am, at the very least, a human being. However, I immediately realize that such a claim has a heavy responsibility! It implies that I have lived and behaved, most of my life, driven by love rather than by the threat of suvival. I have neutralized most of the trappings that distinguish me from others that serve to create status and separation. The result is all that I have left in such a void is my inherent connection to others; all others.

The more we explore this way of being, the more we realize that this web of relationship literally extends to every living soul on the planet. The experience we have is one of overwhelming humility. To think that we are better off simply because we appear to be assured of the basics, with something or a lot extra, does not elevate us in status. We help because it is natural to do so. We support others because we realize how fragile life is thinking we are truly separate from them; all of them! Their tragedy and fate are mirror-reflections of ours; in some aspect of our lives, at present.

This is where my thinking leads me as I stand before the group facilitating our conversations. The group is, in fact, facilitating me! What a gift. At this instant, I realize the real heros of our support efforts are Reverend France Davis and Ernest Timmons (former refugee, evacuee, and presently, new citizen of Salt Lake City). And once again, I am led to the humbling realization that life is simply an infinite web of relationship. The quality we experience is in proportion to what we learn from every encounter that is brought forth, as wisdom, into the next one.

Again, this is one of the messages of the book Animal Kingdom. Every purchase is a 50% contribution to the Support Group Fund.

This is an all-points-bulletin to create a nation-wide network for those displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Please forward this Blog site to any person or location where these American citizens might have relocated. Let’s begin sharing our learning and approaches, to assisting everyone displaced, with each other.

We might begin with the messages I have been writing on this site as a way to compare and suggest other means for our mutual success. This is a national, and perhaps a global, effort at using tragedy for creating a network of understanding, compassion, and support for us all. As you will read, we are all victims of the hurricanes in one way or another. “Humankind’s tragedy is my tragedy!”

I look forward to your comments and cooperation.

“Where to now?” was the original question this site was designed to address. We learned that that question was premature. Most of the “new citizens” of Salt Lake are still dealing with clothing (since most left with literally nothing except the clothes on their backs), employment, and adjusting to a new, and somewhat foreign environment. Since these issues will take some time to work out for each person or family, it might be useful to begin asking, “How do I handle the here and now?”

First is accepting the reality that what existed before will most probably never be the same again! Even if some of us return, New Orleans will be a totally different place as it rebuilds itself. It will be a new city with people who have experienced a life-changing trauma. In fact, there may be people moving there who have never lived there before. The New Orleans we knew, no longer exists. Friends we have known since birth will never be in our lives again. Foods we have taken for granted will not be available. We are living in a new reality!

With that said, we need to begin asking, “What are the opportunities in Utah?” I can assure all of us, there are many. It’s funny how life works, the instant we accept the reality we have, rather than the one we imagine from the past, events and opportunities start to move in our favor. The support services available start to become meaningful and we create an empowering relationship. The quote from the Bible has relevance here, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.”

People feel better about supporting people who want to create their own success. An empowering attitude does not focus on all the things that no longer exist, but looking for the new opportunities that do. Most, if not all, attending the Utah Support Group are self-determined individuals as are most I have not met. The point is, it’s time we began accepting Utah as our temporary or permanent home and seek out opportunities that fulfill a dream that might not have been possible in New Orleans in the past.

This blog obviously applies to all of us, even if we are not displaced from New Orleans! If we examine our own lives, we may also have urealistic expectations of what we should have as compared to the effort and commitment we are willing to put in. This level of commitment usually requires us to experience a transformation much like the transformation of those displaced from New Orleans and Texas. It requires us to confront our own self-limitations built into our belief structures and expectations of what the world owes us.

So, the question we face as hosts is, “Are we willing to resolve our own issues in starting a new life as those displaced are forced to?” If so, we get to see what it’s really like to walk in someone else’s moccasins. Such an experience has the power to redefine our lives and project us into a whole new reality of what we can achieve.

Perhaps, Nature is trying to teach us all something if we have the humility to recognize that we are not as wise as we pretend to be. Particularly, if we are looking to scientific proofs to feel secure in our understanding of what’s going on! The mass events we are experiencing are clearly beyond our scientific understanding. There are no experts in how and why earth events are occurring.

Let me know your thoughts. Support Group meeting Friday, 7:00 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church. Be there! Empowerment is the theme.

Last Friday the Katrina and Rita Hurricanes Support Group met at Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City. There were about 45 people in attendance as compared to 10 at the initial meeting. The group consisted of “new community members” (formerly known as evacuees) as well as an outpouring of people who just want to help.

There were moving and heartfelt stories of the life-changing ordeals most of them experienced. The one element the stories all had in common was the will to survive. That will is still happening in Salt Lake with people who were formerly computer specialists, small business owners, contruction workers, etc. willing to do domestic work just to earn a living here. Being without gainful employment is something foreign to us. It helps to define our sense of self as well as the pride of being a fully functinal American citizen–not a refugee or an evacuee!

Being from New Orleans myself, this will to contribute to Salt Lake as gainfully employed citizens is not surprising to me. It is the work-ethic that I was raised with. Many of these new citizens have much to contribute to Salt Lake, both in terms of their ethnic diversity as well as their differences in thinking.

They also provide a learning opportunity for residents here. The learning opportunity is to become more multicultural and diverse in our own outlook. This is most effectively achieved through human experience. If you have employment opportunities for sharp, positive-attitude people who view employment as a privilege, not a right, then call Calvary Baptist Church, Reverend France Davis (801-355-1025) or Bill Guillory at Innovations (801-268-3313) to arrange interviews.

By the way, every testimonial expressed love and acceptance on the part of the people of Utah. To a person, the new citizens feel truly blessed to be here, regardless of whether they remain or not. Quite frankly, this outpouring of human compssion does not surprise me, it simply confirms my own 20+ years of living here! Keep in mind 50% of Animal Kingdom purchases go to the Support Fund.

Next Support Group meeting this Friday October 28, 2005, Calvary Baptist Church at 7:00 P.M. I invite your comments or contribution to this website.

The recent tragedies around the world have surfaced learning lessons for us all. All we have to do is stop and take a hard look at the aftermath. In the case of Katrina, we learned how unprepared we were to handle a major tragedy in the U.S. We also learned that major racial tensions that we tend to pretend away by citing successful people of color are alive and well. All we need is a major mass event to surface such feelings of separation and polarization.

We’ve also learned that those directly impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been forced to reexamine every aspect of their lives: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They have been forced to examine “who they are” without the trappings of wealth, friends, and material possessions. At some level, they have also been forced to examine what are their most important values that will destine and sustain their future.

There is also a lesson for each of us who apparently play the role of observer. These tagedies can also be a mirror-reflection of own lives. We don’t need a tragedy in our own communities to examine our attitudes and behaviors toward those who are different, by income, race, sex, culture, nationality, language, sexual orientation, etc. I’m sure we’ll find some dimension of righteousness we feel others should be or not be. In this way, we contribute to the disharmony that others play out for us.

What I’m suggesting is that external tragedies can serve as interventions to have us stop and examine our own inner tragedies to learn something about ourselves that can serve us in achieving the quality of life we all desire. The basic nugget of wisdom here is “The outer is a reflection of the inner.” Whatever is not as we expect it to be in our lives is sourced from some unresolved element within us! In other words, undesireable external situations we experience are really directing us to look inward for ultimate resolution.

Please have your friends and relatives visit this site and let us know what you think!

This past week, we had our first Hurricane Katrina Support Group meeting in Salt Lake City for those displaced from Louisiana; primarily, New Orleans. The stories of their experiences are something beyond what any of us would welcome or want to have happen to us. In spite of the fact that it has been two months since that tragic event, many here in Salt Lake are still dealing with payments from FEMA, transportation, and employment.

There are those dealing with healthcare issues, such as prescriptions, dental care, and special medications ranging from high blood pressure to seizures. Although the support group is set up to deal with the aftermath of the mental acceptance of how their lives have changed and where they go from here, we have found that many are simply dealing with the basic necessities of life.

After discussing ways of dealing with immediate needs, we began discussing the realities of living in Salt Lake. How they might get on their feet so as decide some time in the future what their future might be. We discussed positive experiences thay have had, such as living in apartments in Fox Point, which I consider a great living area. We discussed the role of the church in their recovery, and most of all, viewing themselves as responsible to redesigning their lives.

When all is said and done, no one can live your life for you, or make you happy. Happiness comes from within when we take a positive attitude toward whatever life deals us and we respond in a way to shape our own destiny. We have to constantly remind ourselves to move away from a victim mentality, no matter what the news media may call us. There is still more opportunity and resources for responding to disaster in the U.S. than any country in the world. I cry inside when I try to imagine adapting to the earthquake tragedy in Southern asia.

A fundamental principle in the book Animal Kingdom is that when we all take responsibility for each others’ condition, before and after a tragedy, we not only solve problems, but we learn what it means to be a human being. These are the types of principles we need to learn to create a humanly compatible world.

We will begin selling the downloaded sections of the book, Animal Kingdom, @ $3.00 each. One-half of all sales will go to support the efforts of the Hurrican Katrina Support Group here in Salt Lake initially and nationally if we have sufficient funds. The SLC support group will meet this Friday, October 21, 2005 at Calvary Baptist Church at 6:00 P.M.

Please contribute your opinions, ideas, and insights and know that this site will have updates every two or three days. Come back and visit us and tell your friends about us.

As we are learning, the real challenge for those displaced by recent “mass events” is acceptance and adaptation to their displacement. The question this conversation addresses is “How do we best support their adaptation in our communities where they have “placed;” in many cases, without their choice.

My sister has been living with me since her home was flooded in New Orleans. She is struggling with a multitude of questions about her future. She is experiencing the full impact of the loss of her friends and way of life. She is slowly coming to the conclusion that things will never be the same again. I see my role is first to make sure that her basics are met; shelter, health care, dental care, and the freedom to meet new people, since she is a very social being.

Beyond those basics, how do we, who are not directly affected, support those thrust upon us. They are, after all, Americans, not refugees! The answer is illustrated in recent experiences my sister had. Quite unexpectedly, my sister had to go to the emergency room of a local hospital in Salt Lke at 9:00 P.M. We were admitted by a rather stern, but efficient nurse. She indicated that the wait might be 10 minutes or one hour, it depended on new patients who had graver problems than my sister. I found myself starting to have feelings of prejudice and bias. Both of which I had no intention of putting up with.

Within a half-hour she was attended by a nurse and then a physician. Afterwards, my sister described both these individuals as outstanding in her treatment. Most of the time she was being attended involved conversation about her displacement from New Orleans. How they hoped she was doing well and let them know if they could help futher in her health care. The stern nurse turned into a warm person who suggested several pharmacies in the local area that were open at that time of night. I could hardly tear my sister away to get the prescriptions she needed at 11:00 P.M.

The pharmacist first doubted whether her health insurance card worked in Utah. But then he took about 15 minutes making calls to ensure her medication would be discounted. He succeeded, primarily because he said he wanted help and would not take no for an answer. My sister and he had a wonderful conversation about Utah and the people and what it as like to live there. As he talked, I recalled my suspicions and doubts when I first arrived. I also learned that most of the prejudices I suspected were inside of me! When we left, he said “I hope you decide to stay here for a while; who knows, you might like it!”

What’s the answer to the question I posed in the title? We support those displaced with everyday acts of empathy, compassion, and love. Treat them the same as we would our own family members. What we might learn, in turn, is that we might benefit as much or more than them!

My heart is sickened as though a part of me has been torn away. I don’t want to experience the tragedy in Pakistan and India as a news event. I want to “feel” the loss of 20,000 to 30,000 souls. I don’t want to simply throw money at the event and feel good about myself, although money does help to restore some of the necessities of life.

I want to “project” myself into the event as though it happened to me, during and afterwards. I want to ask myself, “How would that event change my life?” Several thoughts come to mind. First, a reordering of my priorities of importance has occurred. My relationships and their quality are foremost on my list; family, friends, and the human community. I begin asking myself, “How have I behaved in the last month or so? Have I projected love and support or selfishness? Have I focused on giving or getting? What are the little things I can do in my everyday life to show those around me I care: Flowers, a walk in silence, a genuine concern for something I know is going on, a smile, a hug, an acknowledgement of support or something well-done, a contribution, a verbal statement of love, etc.

Second, my contribution to the world around me that I influence. Am I living my passion? Do I know what it is? If I did, would I pursue it with all my heart and soul or would it require me to experience forgiveness and humility? Somehow, I have the feeling that living my passion keeps me young in body, mind, and spirit. It creates an energy in me that becomes my natural contribution to the world. It sets my work life priorities. It prevents me from ever being tired or burned out. It allows me to understand what it is to truly exerience being human. It becomes the essence of service to others.

Third, attending my own mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Do I seek the company of those who help me to grow or those who keep in me in my safety zone? Do I have a daily regimen for physical renewal? And am I willing to explore beyond my own belief system to a source within me that constantly changes my world to be more expansive, understanding, and accepting of differing religious expressions? Do I sense there is a Source that embraces us all, that goes beyond that which we presently know?

When I let myself go and try to experience the recent tragedy in southeas Asia, these are where my thoughts take me. I invite each of you to do your own “projection exploration” and share your comments, if appropriate.

My sister lived in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and the levee breakage. She now lives with me in Salt Lake City. This whole tragedy began when I learned she was trapped in New Orleans with no word from her for nine days. We had lived through many hurricanes growing up and living there. So a hurricane was something we had actually grown accoustomed to. It was a part of life living in New Orleans. Massive flooding was another matter.

I became more concerned about my sister’s welfare as I watched the poorly focused news coverage as well as the extent to which we were unprepared for such an event. Now that she is safe with me, we talk not only about her ordeal but her process of adaptation. After survival is handled, as well as food, shelter, and clothing, then the mental process of accepting the fact that friends and family are dispersed throughout the country, everything called home is probably gone forever, and what do the survivors do with their lives now. It’s vital to realize that for many, if not most, the mental adjustment will be years; if not the rest of their lives.

I attempt to have active conversations with my sister to have her go deep about all these changes. I also discuss alternatives for her to consider. Most of all, I attempt to help her create new relationships and opportunities as she processes her future and her life. I plan to help put together support groups to begin exploring all of these questions and issues. I encourge all of us to do the same where the opportunity exists. This contribution can be more valuable than money; to help someone become self-sufficient.

I invite comments and suggestions.

Nature, Mass Events, and Animal Kingdom

The idea that “mass events” are messages is as ancient as the planet Earth itself. All the great civilizations and those prior to recorded history have interpreted expressions of Nature as “signs” to humankind.

This is the way Nature communicates with humans–sometimes in highly expressive ways, such as earthquakes, storms, or hurricanes, or highly sensitive ways, such as flowers in the spring, a sprinkling of snow, a spring day, and the chill of a rainy day.

As between two humans, the form of communication is dictated by the cause-effect relationship. If the expressions of humankind are to create stress and imbalance in Nature, then Nature attempts to relieve such stresses and imbalance – through both minor and major mass events. In this case Nature is the source, it’s expressions are the messages, and Animal Kingdom is a messenger.

There are numerous messengers communicating in their own unique ways. These include humans, books, tapes, CDs, etc. In each unique way, the messages are similar: physical, mental, and spiritual, balance within and among humankind is also reflected in Nature. This is the essential message in the book Animal Kingdom.The question that arises is “what is meant by balance?”

Balance refers to a “state of being” where we recognize how interconnected we are rather than how separate we are. It refers to the recognition that our infinite variety of differences, we call diversity, is based upon a foundation of values that are inherent in and common to all, e.g., family, service, faith, and expressions of the human spirit through art, science, literature, technology,creativity, and innovation. Balance is fundamentally a state of love dominated by wisdom, rather than state of fear dominated by survival. It is the recognition that human survival has been handled even though we do not behave as if it has.

Animal Kingdom invites us to draw meaning from the mass events “We” experience. The “We” is really an invitation to the world, although those closest to such events are provoked to think most about them. It ultimately poses the question, “Do we, collectively as humans, have the capacity and willingness to create a humanly-compatible planet of people?” If the answers are Yes, then “how” would we have to change and “what” would we have to “do” differently to ensure that we do not revert to fear and survival patterns.

So, Animal Kingdom is a global messenger to humankind to stimulate such conversations. Be clear, that these conversations begin within each of us and is manifested by dialogues of openness, understanding, transformation, and creative integration. Creative integration is the process of creating an environment which is inclusive of all points-of–view and simultaneously compatible in how we live and work together.

The process of reconciling differences to create compatible systems (ways) of living (and working) is Diversity. It is the most fundamental concept to creating human compatibility. It will dominate human activity in this century – either consciously or unconsciously.