"We are all made of stardust. As brothers of the wild beasts and cousins of the flowers in the fields,we all carry the history of the cosmos. Just by breathing,we are linked to all other human beings that have lived on the planet. For example,still today we are breathing in millions of atomic nuclei from the fire that burned Joan of Arc in 143, and some of the molecules from Julius Caesar's dying breath. When a living organism dies and decays, its atoms are released back into the environment, and eventually become integrated into other organisms. Our bodies contain about a billion atoms that once belonged to the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment." - Matthieu Ricard and Trinh Xuan Thuan
I woke up this morning and of course there's more news about aftershocks in Haiti. Children are starving, are without water or food, are searching in massive rubble for their mothers and fathers, lives that were teetering on a brink already were, in a matter of moments, completely shattered.
When the earthquake hit Haiti last week, my first thought was of my own experience of the earthquake I experienced while living in San Francisco in 1989. Buildings fell down. The Bay Bridge collapsed. The Marina was on fire. At my own flat, in the Haight, all the windows that faced the street broke into thousands of tiny shards of glass and fell the two stories onto the sidewalk below.
I know I was both lucky and privileged. Privileged. The infrastructure of this country did not collapse simply because the walls of the city came tumbling down. My life did not crumble, I did not truly suffer.
The beautiful people of Haiti are suffering an unimaginable crisis. Most of us can not begin to imagine having our entire world literally crumble around us and to be left with nothing and wondering if even our own family members are still alive. It is a mirror for all of us, honestly, of our own fragile lives. Because, honestly, it really could happen to any of us. Perhaps not on that scale, but yes. Worlds can crash down, lives can crumble. Each day we are here is a gift.
Tomorrow is my birthday. I am blessed, as always, to have lived and celebrated another beautiful and inspired trip around the sun this past year. It is, quite honestly, amazing to me each birthday just how much a single year can bring to a person's life, to my life specifically. Unexpectedly, but with joy, my heart has expanded, my mind has opened, there is joy and hope in places I did not even know before.
My birthday wish this year is to extend that hope, that small amount of joy, to the people of Haiti. I have already given to Partners in Health and Doctors without Borders because they are both organizations that I support strongly. Partners in Health has been on the ground in Haiti for over 20 years and they do incredible work providing critical medical care in the poorest countries.
This blog gets over 5,000 individual hits every single day. I know that most of you come for the naked pictures. I'm not going to kid myself and think otherwise. That said, if all of you who come donate just $1, that would provide $5,000 to directly help the beautiful people of Haiti. Help those children and their mothers and fathers with critical medical care. Not just now, but going forward. This is a tragedy that will not just end when tomorrow's news finds something else to report. This is a tragedy of epic proportions. When just one of us suffers, we all suffer. We are always, always only as strong as our weakest link. We can not ignore, nor forget, those who do not have what we so often take for granted.
I hope, truly, that you'll join me in extending just a very small offering of hope to our brothers and sisters in Haiti. $1, $5, or whatever you feel is appropriate. You have been so generous and lovely as my readers for many beautiful, heartfelt years. I know that together we can offer hope.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Bring Aid to Haiti
Thank you for joining me to bring aid to the people of Haiti
The scope the disaster is truly enormous, and a tremendous influx of immediate aid is needed to avert an even greater loss of life. Partners In Health has been working in Haiti for nearly 25 years. Our local team is already working to ensure PIH’s coordinated relief efforts, leveraging the skills of more than 120 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and nursing assistants who work at established sites throughout Haiti.
Please help me make sure that this skilled team has the resources it needs to address the crisis at hand.
