Mother Nature…You’re One Sly Mama

Were you like me…mesmerized by the Weather Channel for the first time in your life last weekend? Consumed…watching this massive, spiraling red, green and yellow blob as it slowly inched its way through the Caribbean and then slid up Cuba before ransacking Florida and creating havoc for millions of Americans across the Southeast?

Family and friends, fellow American brothers and sisters, being stalked by a slow-moving monster…nowhere to run…like waiting for a spanking from your parent and knowing it’s going to be the spanking of your life. And to add insult to injury, your wounds haven’t even begun to heal from a previous “hurricane spanking” in Houston, just weeks before (Petition: To name hurricanes something other than sweet human names (Examples: Hurricane Hellwrecker and Hurricane I-aint-no-f’in-joke)).

It appears that Mother Nature has had enough.

Quite honestly, I don’t blame her. She has sent warning after warning that we aren’t treating Earth with respect and we haven’t listened…we’ve been environmentally selfish and greedy. From these devastating hurricanes, to Mexico’s strongest earthquake in a century, to flooding in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh (that has claimed almost a thousand lives), and over 100 fires in the Western U.S. and more, Mama’s apparently hit her breaking point and is shaking things up.

Indulge me, if you will. Mother Nature is acting like the alcoholic parent…stalking through the house, throwing crap everywhere, overturning beds, tearing down walls, and kicking everyone’s ass.

In her path is the family that has been at odds and fighting with each other.

Because of her wrath, that family must unify, stop fighting and start working together to survive. You see, my friend, we humans are that family that hasn’t been treating each other or our home with dignity and respect, and Mama is beyond pissed.

Whatever might be creating the latest “breaking news,” which is typically the political dissension in our country or, to keep it real, whatever will get the news more ratings, these storms are forcing us to prioritize and give our disagreements a rest. We, not just the American family, but other human families around the globe, are having to unify…to come together…to start doing what we should have been doing all along…treating the rest of humankind with kindness, compassion and dignity.

Why? Because it’s the right thing to do and because our survival depends on it.

So, a side-effect of these devastating natural disasters is the welcome sight of humanity in action. It’s the sight of people of all cultures and backgrounds caring for each other, our human family coming together for the greater good, and it’s comforting and relieving. And, don’t get me wrong here…it’s come at quite a cost.

Mother Nature is one sneaky woman…creating unity where unity appeared to have left the building.

She “brought it” this time and damn, I have more respect for her than ever (and I already had a butt-ton (that’s a lot)). She’s a badass who has entrusted us with an amazing mansion filled with beautiful landscape, humans, and animals…with water, food, and air, everything we need to live a mind-blowing and incredible life.

So, I for one, would like to bow down in respect to her power and her grace…it could have been worse, AND it was more than enough and is going to take a long time to recover. I’d also like to thank her for creating a reason for every culture and every color to come together and give each other, our human brothers and sisters, a helping hand. I hope and pray that this joining of hands, this show of unity, is the beginning of us putting down our differences and coming together to co-create a world where we can all thrive.

So, thank you Mother Nature for reminding us that it’s an equal opportunity shit storm out here…

That wealth, culture, color, gender, or any other factor that we use to separate us is equally susceptible to the fragility of Your power. And thank you for the wake-up call that we must help and care about each other, because we haven’t been doing a very good job of that.

Lastly, I’d like to send my heartfelt compassion, empathy and prayers to those of you who have been in the direct path of Mother Nature’s devastation, whatever that devastation may be. My hope is that we all keep showing up to support your needs in getting back on your feet during the day and sleeping safely and comfortably in your bed at night.