OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

Friday, January 14, 2005

ONE STEP FORWARD

My life with the new TV set is pretty comfortable. It’s nice and stimulating to have a new member in my everyday routine. It was also nice that they took my old TV back with them for free of charge, saying it was recyclable. These days you have to pay more than 2,000 yen to get rid of certain old home electronic appliances here.
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I feel I’m going through some changes now. Getting a new TV was just one minor part of it. A more important change is that now I’m feeling like giving one thing a try --- something that I didn’t have courage to do in the past 10 years. It’s writing my earthquake experience of 10 years ago and sharing it with others.

I kept thinking that I was not ready, and didn’t have anything to make me step out of it. Then the Sumatera Offshore Earthquake occurred.

When I was still in shock of the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in 1995, I happened to have some chances to read about what people went through in major disasters before that earthquake, including the Northridge Earthquake in CA, USA. It helped me a lot…not so much by “teaching” what to do in such situations, but by making me “feel related.”

I DO NOT mean to arrogantly “help” or “teach” the suffering people by sharing my experiences. I just remember that for me it was important, in processing my experiences/feelings, to touch and be touched by the emotional processes of those going through the same kind of thing. Writing about my experience is nothing more than my personal therapy, but sharing it may or may not produce something else…. That’s all I have in mind.

After lighting a candle at the memorial ceremony on this coming Jan.17th, I’ll move one step forward.
posted by obachan, 1/14/2005 02:02:00 PM

4 Comments:

Yep, a new TV can be really good companion at times.

Glad to hear you're ready to take steps in expressing your feeling about the earthquakes. It's good to talk with people who have experience what you have, as they are the only ones that "really" know how you feel, as they feel the same anxieties as you do. It's a comfort to know someone understands. Good luck -lance
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, 1/15/2005 6:33 AM  
I finally started writing about the earthquake experience :)
commented by Blogger obachan, 1/24/2005 12:26 AM  
Will we be able to read it one day? Or is it still to personal? -lance
commented by Anonymous Anonymous, 1/25/2005 5:55 AM  
If you're interested, click the link “A Frozen Clock” in my “Here it is” post or the one below “My Memories of the Quake” in the sidebar.
commented by Blogger obachan, 1/25/2005 10:00 AM  

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