To say the recent destruction and devastation in Japan is saddening is a vast understatement. The images, stories and video footage of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th off the coast of Sendai are bone-chillingly soul crushing. To see images of such intense chaos and sorrow is strange when those events took place such a far distance away, it is easy to feel a disconnect, to feel sympathetic but to remain unchanged in your daily life and concerns. And I will be the first to admit that in the past, when natural disasters have struck in foreign locations, I absorbed the information and moved on, no emotions, no worries, it was just another thing that had happened. But when I first heard about Japan and perused the images and videos online I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face. This cataclysmic event destroyed the lives of countless people, and it is the thought of these people that made me cry. The land that was destroyed, well, that is simply a part of nature- earthquakes are a natural phenomenon- and in time the earth will heal, but the lives taken and the lives that are irreversibly scarred by the happenings are of a permanent state.
Continuing to spend time with these images of devastation is a ever present reminder of the fickle nature of the environment, as well as the power it holds. My thoughts and prayers go out to Japan and all those effected by this disaster, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it just might be a long tunnel.
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