We all need a little perspective. Some of us, like me, more than others. That is one of the reasons I came up with the idea for this blog over two years ago. My idea was to make a slightly humorous, highly self-deprecating, and somewhat tongue in cheek blog about how I let all life’s little things keep me from seeing the big picture and keep me from living the life I really want to live.
I resisted actually beginning this blog because I was afraid that writing a blog such as this would be a waste of time. I want to be a fiction writer – novels, short stories, etc. - where does writing trivial essays on life fit into this goal? But the idea kept nagging me, the blog posts kept writing themselves, and people kept suggesting it. So, a few years later, here we are!
Around two weeks after my blogging debut, Hurricane Sandy came banging on our door. As the wind rattled my office windows and the rain dripped ever so slightly into my basement, I sat on my computer in my well-lit office writing a blog entry on how I scrambled to prepare for Sandy but she did very little but force my family to remain inside and spend some time together. Minutes after I posted my entry, our electricity went out for a few hours. This was the extent of our damage.
While I was cuddling up with the kids on the sleep sofa, families north of us were losing their homes to wind, fallen trees, floods and fire. While my husband and I worried about a trickle of rain coming in our house, my beloved Jersey shore was under water. While people in Sea Isle City are renovating their first floors, people in Sea Side Heights are rebuilding homes. While people down the shore are evaluating the damage to their vacation homes, people outside New York City lost everything – everything they've ever had, gone. While people are taking stock of all the processions they lost, some people have lost their lives. It is all about perspective.
I had another momentarily lapse in perspective just a few short days later on Wednesday, October 31st. Our town had already decided to post-pone Halloween to Saturday, a decision both the kids and I were happy with. While I was busy planning a fun-filled Saturday Halloween, Governor Christie mandated that the entire state of New Jersey post-pone Halloween until Monday. I didn’t even know a Governor COULD or WOULD do that? Didn’t he trust the municipalities to make that decision? And on and on I ranted to my kids (who could have cared less), to my family on the phone, to my friends through email, and on Facebook. Big mistake! Immediately, I was put in my place and rightly so because, after all, does it really matter when Halloween is?
People lost everything. Some New Jersey towns still couldn’t Trick or Treat come Monday. Some Trick or Treated this past weekend. Some will not be Trick or Treating at all this year. Furthermore, what about the people that struggle every year on Halloween – struggle to find the extra money for costumes and candy? All I can do is be grateful for what I have, pray for those that struggle, and offer assistance wherever I can. And always try to remember to keep things in perspective.
