Teach your Children

And you, of the tender years can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,

So just look at them and sigh and know they love you. -CSN

My youngest daughter turned 13 last week. Its official, I have only teenagers and adults now. What a strange and wonderful feeling. I have spent a lot of time writing about my role as a mother. It has been the most pivotal role of my life. Profoundly continues to shape and mold all that I still am yet to be. As much influence as I have had in my children’s lives they have equal if not higher billing in mine. My Kung Foo Masters, each of them.

Kelly is a brilliant, funny, beautiful, strong willed, kind kid who brings so much joy and just as swiftly can bring you to your knees. A fiery personality she has not always been so easy to mother, but as I always say, nothing worthwhile is easy! And she is definitely worthwhile.

I go back to the beginning of my mothering career when Beth was born and the Gulf war was soon raging. I was afraid for her future. What did we do? Bringing a new life into an unstable world. What was the world going to be like for her? Then I remember thinking that I am sure since the beginning of time mothers have thought this about their children’s lives. The fact is life is hard. It was when they came to this new world and had to physically build the country from the ground up. As it is today as modern technology presents a whole new slew of “problems” we could never imagine our children having when we grew up. Time moves on and again, it is how we deal with what is thrown at us that matters.

I received an email from my Dad today from a friend of a friend who is currently living in Japan. I don’t think they would mind if I put it on the blog as its message is a hopeful and positive one that even when the worst thing you could imagine happens life moves on in love and light.

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,

First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am
very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you
all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.

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'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.

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 sign so people can come to
fill up their jugs and buckets.

Utterly amazingly 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, "Oh, this is how it used to be
in the old days when everyone helped one another."

Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes.
Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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's husband
came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.

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't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much
larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet
magnificent.

Thank you again for your care and Love of me,

With Love in return, to you all,

Anne

So all you who have worried about the future, please don’t.  It is what we make of it. We can cry and complain or we can see things through a different lens and find the beauty in everything that happens. I am happy and confident that I am preparing my children and myself to know that they will not go through life unscathed but hopefully learn to deal with what they do go through with grace.