8.9, that is huge and unimaginable to me.  I live in the desert and while I’ve been to a lot of places, I’ve never been anywhere long enough or at the wrong time to experience an earthquake.

Thanks to iReporters I was able to watch video clips of the earthquake that hit Japan.  Unbelievable and really devastating for the poor people that can’t just sit and watch the footage, they are living it.  My heart goes out to them, as I’m sure everyone’s does, when watching a country cope with the aftermath of a natural disaster.

People living their lives and then everything changes, for many it changes forever. I’m sure the stories that will follow will illustrate the unwavering strength and stamina of humankind.  Men and women, families will pick themselves up, cities will rebuild and life will return to some normalcy. Of course loved ones will mourn loss and it will take a long time, but life will go on.  It has to.

I watched the video that showed the tsunami as it hit Japan.  Boats and burning structures looked like scraps of paper as they moved in a surreal mass to the shore.

Here’s what occurred to me…we are guests.

For everything humankind can do, for all that we build and acquire, for all of our intelligence and human emotion, we are just guests.  That’s what went through my mind watching this massive wave.

We do not dominate.  We may think we do, but at any moment, at any time, Mother Nature can cause a shift.  That shift does not yield to Wall Street, corporate america, the highest of buildings or the richest of people.  She rules supreme and it is, at least for me, and I’m sure the people of Japan…humbling.

That’s all from the laundry room.  Peaceful night.

daily thoughts hope life meaning Natural Disaster reality sadness struggle thoughts earthquake Japan life people thoughts