{"id":3016,"date":"2011-03-16T18:40:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-17T04:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/?p=3016"},"modified":"2011-03-16T18:40:08","modified_gmt":"2011-03-17T04:40:08","slug":"a-letter-from-sendai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/?p=3016","title":{"rendered":"A letter from Sendai"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Well, it doesn&#8217;t really belong here. And I am a bit concerned that I have about 100 readers &#8211; don&#8217;t really know why or how. But it&#8217;s the best platform I have at the moment. I don&#8217;t know why you are reading the Keiki Blog. But this is what I just found and like to share:<\/p>\n<p>from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.odemagazine.com\/blogs\/readers_blog\/24755\/a_letter_from_sendai\" target=\"_blank\">Ode<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to  have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even  more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend&#8217;s home. We share  supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in  one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and  beautiful.<\/p>\n<p>During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People  sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line  up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water  running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up  their jugs and buckets.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no  pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer  when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, &#8220;Oh, this is how it used  to be in the old days when everyone helped one another.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.<\/p>\n<p>We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for  half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on.  But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do  not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are  so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this  peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct,  of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me,  but of the entire group.<\/p>\n<p>There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some  places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun.  People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking  their dogs. All happening at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No  cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered  with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is  filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can  see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.<\/p>\n<p>And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to  check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is  on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea  from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door  checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers  asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but  fear or panic, no.<\/p>\n<p>They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for  another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls,  shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that  is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this  area is better off than others.  Last night my friend&#8217;s husband came in  from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.<\/p>\n<p>Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is  indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over  the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events  happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My  brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I  don&#8217;t. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger  than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet  magnificent.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you again for your care and Love of me,<\/p>\n<p>With Love in return, to you all,<br \/>\nAnne<\/p>\n<p><em>Wondering how you can help? Aid relief efforts by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/crisisresponse\/japanquake2011.html\" target=\"_new\">clicking here<\/a> to donate to the Japanese Red Cross, or text redcross to 90999 to make a $10 donation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, it doesn&#8217;t really belong here. And I am a bit concerned that I have about 100 readers &#8211; don&#8217;t really know why or how. But it&#8217;s the best platform I have at the moment. I don&#8217;t know why you&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3017,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3016\/revisions\/3017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/simplify-your-life.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}