How is your mental wellbeing today?

[HurriCat]

I have ran the spectrum of emotion, from initial shock, to hearbreak and even to outrage at the whining and the race-baiting. What I have found is that a lot of friends here are just plain overdosing on coverage.

It is no Red Badge of Courage to sit glued to the television. For me, I am donating what I can, praying sincerely, and trying to step back from the coverage. I AM reviewing my own storm preparations and encourage you to do the same.

I hope my friends here can all take some real actions, too, and find their own bits of peace and quiet.

The stress, fighting and heartbreak are only more ripples expanding out from the storm zone. Don't let the emotional "storm surge" wash you away!

[chicagopizza]

Hurrcat- I completely agree with you. We can't become paralized by the grief and we need to make sure we prepare for things to come.

In the downtime, I am heartbroken and thankful all at once and have been since it was a lock where Katrina was going. I feel so bad for people just struggling to survive - bad decisions or not-no one deserves it. I saw 10 people on a rooftop on tv and, for some reason, maybe because we have 2 dogs, the guy with 3 dogs talking about how he was apologizing to his dogs and regretting his decision, I just cried and still can't talk about it without crying. I don't know why it is him, in particular, but it was. And the man who lost his wife in MS. There is so much suffering and my problems are tiny in comparison.

At the same time, I am so grateful for what God has given me - a wonderful husband, 2 beautiful dogs, my mom and family...right down to the bed i sleep in at night. How many times did I take meals, water, the basics for granted? Countless. Now, I step into bed at night and know how blessed I am and pray for those who are not. I look at my husband and dogs and know every moment I have with them is a gift.

I never thought I could feel so close to strangers on tv, but I do. And the people from Slidell and Baton Rouge that I met during my visit to New Orleans - so welcoming, fun and kind - I just pray they are okay. And I pray that the ones who are not will find peace and comfort in their time of need.

[cajungal]

I am a emotional wreck. While I am thanking my lucky stars, that we did not get the worse from Katrina. Only trees down and the power being out for 3 days. No structral damage to my home and only very minor damage to other homes. But, my heart bleeds for New Orleans and the MS coast. New Orleans is barely an hour drive away from my home. I used to go there all the time. To go eat out, walk the French Quarter, go to the Riverwalk, go to the zoo, go party out on Bourbon etc... I LOVE New Orleans. My brother works downtown New Orleans at the Court of Appeals, so of course, he got very used to being in the city 5 days out the week. I just can't believe it will never, ever be the same again. I have a whole list of family members who live in the New Orleans area. We don't know if they have anything left. None are allowed to return to their homes.

And the MS coast looks totally wiped out. Another 2nd home to me. I woud go to the MS coast all the time almost everytime I would get a weekend off of work. I can't even believe everything is gone. These people worked hard all their life, just to get it wiped out in a matter of hours.

[GalvestonDuck]

For the first time this week, I woke up without my alarm clock radio (simply because I don't have to go to work today so there was no need to set it). So for the first time this week, I woke up without news in my waking ears. And I woke up the same way I did the morning after my mom died. I slept (obviously better last night than I did the night my mom died) through the night and then gradually stirred awake. And for a moment...a brief moment...I was oblivious. But then my brain began to function. I went throught those split-second normal waking thoughts -- reaffirming to myself that it was Saturday, telling myself to get my butt up, and thinking about what I had planned for the day. And then it hit...and I remembered. Damn. Even though I was still laying down, I felt my shoulders drop in despair.

I'm just glad I had a soft dry bed in which to sleep and wake up. But it hurt to wake up.

[tropicsgal05]

I would like to send my heartfelt thoughts to everyone who was in Katrina's path. My husband and i made a donation to the redcross. I just hope we helped in someway. It could have been us here in Ft. walton Beach.

[cajungal]

It is just getting worse. I was suffering from chronic depression before Katrina hit, now it is even worse. I talked a few of my friends and they are also severely depressed. It is not about me, though. It is about those people. My heart continues to break and I spend a lot of time wanting to cry. But, I know crying is not going to change anything. I am just going to live day by day trying to make some sense out of this tragedy. And do what I can to help out.

[caribepr]

I was at my friend's store Sunday working and looking, as ever, for something to read (distraction) and someone tossed a semi interesting looking book into the pile (for those who don't know, we have a free book exchange here, no book store, saves our butts who are standing in line saying Hi, I'm MJ and I'm a bookoholic.

The things that have been going on this week have brought me...to some bad places. I guess I got a nod from on high to find this poem in this book, on the first page.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out in
different directions

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
in a culture up to its chin in shame
living in the stench it has chosen we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the back door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you

in the banks that use us we are saying thank you
with the crooks in office with the rich and fashionable
unchanged we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us like the earth
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

W.S. Merwin

I've seen so many who have been stuck for days (and horrible nights), hungry, hurt, lost, usually older people, but some younger...saying thank you (and in the midst of my own feelings of hoplessness and helplessness), being stunned by it. And then I got this. Sharing my gift with you, hoping it is some help. It was and is for me.

[beenthru6]

I am trying really hard to concentrate on all of the uplifting stories of people helping their fellow Americans. It has been dread and misery for a week now, and I NEED to hear good things. I am praying that many of these people will be able to "make lemonade" with a new start and often a new location. I have a feeling that there are quite a few who felt trapped by poverty and circumstance, and I am praying that maybe they will have a new positive start with the help of some caring people.

[patsmsg]

Things are looking brighter in Picayune. Today I was able to get gas for my generator, a chainsaw (50+ trees down), and a window unit A/C
I'm in business.

Hope things turn around soon for everyone else. We can do without power and hot water for a while. We need to reach out to others too, because many have lost everything, and starting over will not be easy.

[tndefender]

I've just reached my meltdown point. This is not real, it's not happening and the people I love are going to be FINE!!!! I just talked to my best friend since we were 8 years old (I'm now 47) and I've done nothing but cry since. The thing that runs through my head is "it's the end of the world as we know it" . . . Green Day? This will become one of the biggest hurdles to jump that we have even known in our day!!!

Maybe Green Day did speak for many of us:

"Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends

like my fathers come to pass
seven years has gone so fast
wake me up when September ends

here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are

as my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends"

Green Day
Wake Me Up When September Ends