The good news about Katrina

By Amy Hanavan

HappyNews Citizen Journalist

Six months ago we lived in a quaint southern town called Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. After 7 years there, we were longing for a new way of life and began exploring different parts of the country in search of the place that we could call home.

After visiting dear friends in a lovely community above the city of Orlando, we decided it was time to be bold and move to Florida. Needless to say we were stunned and devastated by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina and the damage she wreaked upon Bay St Louis, as she blew into Mississippi on August 29, 2005.

I'm not sure words could ever express the depth of pain and sadness I felt, as I watched the lives of so many people I loved, smashed into tiny irretrievable pieces. I howled in anger and grief at those images of devastation and suffering that were displayed hour after hour on CNN.

I who vowed to stop watching the news and all of the negativity it spews at us, sat transfixed and unable to direct my attention away. We sat waiting with hopes of finding something out about the people we love, and the property we still owned there. I spent many sleepless nights, desperately worried, listening for news and wondering who was alive and who had been carried away in this unprecedented 38-foot storm surge.

Despite my pledge to write about positive news once a week, I was completely immobilized by my own horror, and felt desperate waves of helplessness wash over me in the wake of this deadly storm. As I watched the second disaster unfold, and so many thousands of people were left to experience such unspeakable atrocities, I found myself spinning with incredulity and rage, and unable to breathe.

I felt as if every pore of my being was saturated with more pain than I could hold. Yet in the midst of this I was vaguely aware of something inside of me, nagging at me to find the hope, look for the good, and believe in the possibility of the future.

I was unwilling to tolerate these voices in the recesses of my mind and felt guilty that they even had the audacity to try and be heard amid the clatter of outrage and grief. But slowly as the days passed and I began to hear from some of the people I loved, tears of absolute joy and gratitude would start to cleanse my soul and bring me some measure of comfort and relief.

I must admit that I failed to meet the commitment I made to myself, and couldn't write about anything positive that week. But soon thereafter, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the beauty grace and love I have witnessed here in this community and all over the country. I have swelled with pride and gratitude as I have personally observed people offering so much love, kindness and support.

I had a call from a friend who is struggling to make ends meet after she unwittingly deposited a counterfeit check. The bank froze her assets and is investigating her as if she is a criminal. She can't pay any of her bills because she cannot access any of her own money and she is in the first few months of operating her own business. Despite her own personal difficulties this friend felt determined to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

She called to let me know of a local relief effort that she was involved in. She spent hours standing in the heat holding a sign directing donations and volunteers, because the only thing she could give was her time. I was so moved by generosity of spirit she displayed in the middle of her own personal challenges.

When I dropped off some supplies at this relief site, I watched a little girl about five years old make the most generous donation. She solemnly handed a volunteer a plastic bag filled with her crayons, papers and pencils, obviously well worn and loved.

I smiled at her mother and complimented her on encouraging her daughter to become involved. She quickly confessed that she had nothing to do with it, her daughter had wanted to this on her own. She wanted to give HER supplies, not buy new ones to donate, and her mother felt obligated to facilitate her efforts.

Later as I was driving home, I heard a teacher call into the radio station I was listening to. She described how children in her grade school were paying 50 cents to be able to wear a hat that day in school and all the profits would go toward relief efforts.

I saw a group of young teens holding a sign for a carwash in efforts to raise money for victims of Katrina. Then I passed another sign from a local florist offering 15% of her September profits to the Red Cross.

Hour after hour I observed people all over offering all sorts of assistance and help that would ultimately benefit so many of the people that I personally know and love. I am so grateful and so proud to witness the best of humanity. It is a soothing balm to the hot fire of anger we all felt as watched the incompetence of government relief efforts unfold.

The realists and cynics of our world have already begun to predict the amount of time this good will last, and what will these victims be faced with, once this goodwill runs out. While this is likely to occur on many levels, I truly believe that many people are forever changed by some of the things they witnessed in the last week. I had my deepest suspicions confirmed. There are far more good people in this world than there are those filled with hatred or even worse indifference. There are far more moments in time that are filled with love and joy than there are with human suffering. There is more light and hope and compassion on this planet than not - and we have to be willing to look for it, reinforce, and allow it spread its sphere of influence.

When you lose everything you own and all that was once familiar in your world has been destroyed, the consequence is a deep and abiding will to survive. You rise up to overcome what may have previously seemed insurmountable. Such extreme loss challenges you to confront the deepest and darkest fears all of us have tried to run from by amassing as much stuff and supposed security that we can.

So many people that I love have been forced to ask - do I matter? Does my life have meaning to anyone beyond me? Am I loved? What kind of world do I live in? What is the true nature of humanity? While we will forever grapple with these questions throughout the annals of time, I believe we made some headway in these past few weeks.

We know with a little more certainty, that there are a large percentage of us that are capable of the greatest acts of humanity, compassion, love, kindness and a willingness to give whatever we can. I'm so grateful to all of the people who have reached out to the community that I have lived in, since I was 18 years old. Thank you. You can do something to add to the good in the world and you did. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you.

This story was produced by Amy Hanavan. Hanavan is a citizen reporter from Orlando Florida. She has her Masters degree in Social Work, and 15 years of experience counseling and coaching people in the achievement of their goals. She consults with individuals and corporations, teaching them a concept she created called The Energy of Success. She writes extensively about the energy and power of our thoughts and our ability to use this energy to create what we want in life.

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