As I was writing a blog post about my reflections on January Turkey was hit by the biggest earthquake the area has seen in more than a century. So if felt frivolous to write about my goals and routines or post some pretty photos. I decided to stay off social media in general and concentrate on how I can help the community here.
The destruction and loss caused by the three huge earthquakes are simply overwhelming. The Turkish community has been mourning and will be dealing with the repercussions of the disasters for many years to come. It is difficult to even comprehend the vastness of the losses. The affected area stretches over 400km and over 13.5 Million people are directly affected. So many people perished. Entire cities are in rubble. It’s completely devastating. How does one even put words to loss of that scale?
It felt apocalyptic.
Yet within this devastation, I saw so many wonderful things emerge. People rallying to help, incredible generosity from all over the world but especially within the Turkish community, and many beautiful accounts of what can only be called small miracles, like people being found under the rubble 2 weeks later completely uninjured.
So much hope despite the fear and pain.
For me personally, it put everything into perspective. A reminder of the might of the Majestic, destiny, and that life is too short to waste it on unimportant stuff and toxic people.
I found myself being grateful for the goodness in my life and the people love.
I still feel like I am not quite ready, however, I am trying to slowly ease into social media.
I have started a new photo project, instead of doing a photo a day I am doing a photo a week, so 52 photos in 2023. I find it actually more challenging to remember not only to take the photo but also to post it on IG. I am way behind with posting but have managed to keep up with taking photos, even if half the time I remember on Sunday to take the photo for the week.
One of the decisions I made at the end of 2022 is to pursue more passion projects when it comes to photography. And I found that doing photo walks is invigorating, inspiring, and therapeutic. I find that I enjoy photography and creating more because of this.
I will share my knitting escapades in a separate post. I have made the firm decision to finish my WIP before starting any more. I am running out of needles, that should give you a clue of how out of hand things have gotten.
February was all about supporting those who need me, in all kinds of different ways. I think that in truth I am at my best when I help. Throughout my life serving my community has been important to me, and the events have reconfirmed that it is a pillar of strength for me.
While I was planning and building routines, setting goals, planning, and starting new projects in January. Very simplified: restarting my outward life. February realigned my inward and spiritual striving.
We also had our 25th wedding anniversary in February. This feels like a huge milestone, even if it is only one year more than last year. I am grateful for the wonderful companion I have had on this journey. How we still don’t make much sense on paper, but we still work. I am looking forward to hopefully many more years of compassion and care for each other and plenty of adventures.
Word of the Month
January: Clarity
February: Remembrance