October Surprises

   Three days after super storm Sandy, a 1000 square mile hot-cold, bi polar tempered hurricane violently slammed into the American East Coast. New York City found itself once again responding to a monolithic crisis. The aftermath of the Atlantic Ocean washing over the Big Apple is characterized by prolonged power black outs, food shortages, fires, a crippled infrastructure and public transportation system. On day three after the storm's eye passed, the few subway lines, shuttles and buses that have been repaired to be able to operate seemed to burst at their seems, highly strained under the onslaught of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers scrambling frantically to re establish a sense of normalcy. A mega city filled with beached vehicles like whales laying lifeless, masses of people reminiscent of ants attempting to rebuild their devastated home and in the process seem to aimlessly shoot from here to there. The chaotic results transformed New York into a powerful exclamation mark to the effects of a society addicted to cars, technology and energy. In the wake of Sandy with no electricity, no cellphone towers and  public services practically at a still stand left with people with no communication or mobility. Thus peoples' lives were suspended in a nightmarish state which surely will take years to recover from. It is times like these, during crises and extraordinary circumstances when the potential to cultivate the best as well as the worst in people could go either way. The scene was one of food scarcity surrounded by flooded darkness and the eery absence of the ability to receive help from police or loved ones.  A manifesto and tribute to the absolute importance of human acts of compassion and kindness. Left at the mercy of peoples' patience, hope and love, only the following months will show what direction New Yorkers have taken amid this latest integrity test.
     The liver lining with Sandy was the cultivation of the more positive human attributes in society as well as a break from the political storm raging in the U.S. It provided a moment of reflection and stillness from what had been a very exhausting, expensive and discourse driven American Presidential Election. THE 21st century political super spectacle. Today, this is a show fueled by money, complex political interests, super packs, campaign adds and plenty of personal debate attacks. The contest has evolved into its own kind of super storm. Sandy the hurricane achieved to establish what almost nothing or no one else had before, a temporary truce between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. For a brief moment our planet reminded all living things that we ought to relish and honor our existence here. Urging us to keep in mind that all people, even Americans, are always facing the messy toil of the human condition with its inevitable fatality called death. In the end, the truth is that at any moment the energy of life could be extinguished. Death and destruction by natural forces can therefore serve as powerful reminders that partisan politics, trillions of dollars, military and technology can not match the power of Gaia. The ability to recognize and accept this fact would propel cooperation and a united human effort to increase our ability to prepare for such devastating forces, so that we may increase our odds of survival. Internalizing this truth is the definition of what it means to be human in the 21st century. A way of life described by a fierce fire, a sense of urgency and drive for living in the moment while swimming in an unconditional acceptance of change as well as death. An evolution headed into the direction of a humanity characterized by an individual and collective identity somewhere beyond ego and national citizenship. Until we arrive on that mountain top, we have to believe that with the arrival of every new second, enthused by hope, humanity has the potential to give birth to a new kind of consciousness and reality. Regardless as to how exactly this will manifest itself into existence, it surely it must be driven by ferocious love for life, peace, prosperity for all perceived through a union between constructive awareness, death the ability to cultivate compassion, love and kindness.
Ralf Hugger