I was amused by the fine selection of video gathering hardware phones, ipads – some people even used video cameras – how quaint.

The Rugby World Cup seems to have had rather a small impact on Wellington – apart from providing another excuse for people to get out in the sun and cheer each other on.

Does the scale really matter? An opportunity for people to get together and share some community in a good spirited and happy kind of way is always a good thing, and something that is all too rare. So the people who bravely managed to edge their car through the lunchtime crowds seemed to be having as good a time as the audience as the performers in the chants. I rather like the more informal approaches, where the people on the sidelines are almost impossible to separate from the performers.

Manifesto
10. Every day connect with somebody.
21. Every day seek the support of others. You are not alone.
32. Every day have a laugh.

We used to grow pawpaws at home when I was a kid. I think I liked the fragrance of the raw fruit more than the flavour, but I liked them stewed for dessert. The leaves were always good to draw – at once challenging and yet achievable.

I’d like to know what the active ingredients are in the leaves – it’s rare to see much in the way of insect damage and this suggests *active* ingredients. It wouldn’t surprise me if there weren’t some pharmaceutical benefits to be obtained from some explorations there.

Manifesto
14. Every day the ordinary can be the extraordinary.
30. Every day use all your senses. Touch. Smell. Taste. Hear. See.
42. Every day celebrate. Who you are. What you have achieved. Things that matter to you.

Despite their prolific flowers attracting steady streams of bees they are rather more reticent in the production of seedlings. The seedlings, however, show up in the must unlikely and inhospitable locations – in cracks in walls, slight gaps in bricks, in a tiny spaces between rocks – in fact almost anywhere where there can’t be much more than a few grains of windblown sand and dust, and little more than an occasional dampening of rain.

And this is why I think of them as being the expression of the heart. Like love, they grow in the strangest and toughest environments, and in spite of the adversity they show their life force beautifully.

Manifesto
23. Every day retain your personal power. It belongs to you. No one else.
25. Every day your light shines for others to see.
27. Every day pain is a sign of growing.

The clouds had turned black and the first few drops of rain had started to fall. I was weaving my way along the street trying to avoid knocking into people. It was lunch time and there were people everywhere. As I rushed past my favourite bookshop, Unity Books, something caught my eye but I kept moving. Believe me, I need to avoid this shop – it always lures me in with its promise of endless delights and I struggle to leave without clutching at least one new book. I couldn’t stand not knowing what I had seen so I backtracked to take a closer look. Yes, the bookshop managed to get its hooks into me and slowly the reeling in process began.

Written in chalk on the pavement in front of the shop window was a poem by well known and loved New Zealand poet Sam Hunt. As an aside, I’ll have you know that I’ve sat next to Sam Hunt, and his dog Minstrel, during mass once at St Marys of the Angels, many moons ago. I recognised him immediately as his sat down. I even got to share the “peace be with you” hand shake with him. I thought of this as I read his words …

Just now and then there’s meaning -
like when the nor’westers drop.
Before a southerly sets up.
Just now and then, like this morning.
– Sam Hunt (from Doubtless, new and selected poems).

The rain had started to fall but I didn’t move. The words stayed with me as I sought refuge inside the shop (well, that’s the excuse I’m giving you).

The words “meaning” and “morning” kept playing in my head like a broken record. I found myself thinking about a few days earlier, Wednesday morning to be exact, and the meaning behind what happened.

I arrived at work as usual. Turned on my computer and began to read my emails. Very quickly as I read the most recent email in my Inbox I was reminded that nothing is ever “usual” – it may be familiar but it is always different.

The message read …

There is a potential tsunami risk to New Zealand from the 8.3 magnitude earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Samoan Islands at 0648 hours NZDT … people in low-lying areas near the coast should stay tuned to radio stations and be prepared to immediately evacuate if warned by authorities.

As we began to receive regular alerts and updates a new reality unfolded. Would we have to evacuate? As I looked out the window at our beloved harbour I knew how mean it could become, how quickly it could change into something to be feared. Was this going to happen this morning? As New Zealanders worried about whether our coast was going to be struck by a tsunami our Pacific Island neighbours had already experienced the power and devastation from this much feared aftermath of a big earthquake only they had no warning. It was upon them before they could do much more than run as fast as they could. Only running from a wave in normal conditions is generally a futile exercise let alone being faced with a wave up to eight metres high. Imagine the force and the power behind that wall of water.

Stories began to appear in the media of the havoc that had taken place in Samoa. I felt sick.

“Sea disappeared, then swallowed resort.” [Stuff, 30 Sept 2009]

“No water, just coral. The water go back. Very fast we understand it is a tsunami. It’s not low tide – there is a difference … When we go back we see all my resort is gone … We’re very lucky we’re alive.” [Daniela Brussani, 30 Sept 2009, Stuff].

“I went out early in the morning for a surf, then I felt the tremor – you get them all the time in New Zealand so I didn’t really think too much of it – then I went out in the water and caught a few waves … All of a sudden the water went real weird, it kind of glassed off and got real lumpy, then we started moving real quick, getting sucked out to sea … It was pretty scary looking back and seeing the reef completely dried up. It looked like a volcanic riverbed – it was just gone.” [Chris Nel, 2 October 2009, Stuff]

“Family loses 13 members in tsunami.” [Stuff, 2 October 2009]

“After the earthquake we thought there was not going to be a wave … But it happened so fast we couldn’t do anything.” [Sepoima Lauoletolo, 2 October 2009, Stuff]

“The main damage is our relationship with the ocean, which we grew up seeing as our friend and a place where we can fish and swim. That’s going to change forever.” [Samoa's deputy prime minister Misa Telefoni, 30 October 2009, Stuff]

Sam Hunt’s poem made me reflect on the meaning of what happened on that fateful Wednesday morning.

Stories of horror, heroism, and survival have reminded me of the fragility of human life and our impermanence but also our strength. We think we are indestructible. We’re not. We can be strong. We can be more than we ever imagined and so often in times when we are challenged we discover a part of ourselves that we never knew existed.

There are forces greater than us that will determine our future. It is awful that things have been destroyed but they can be rebuilt – and they will be. What is irreplaceable is the loss of life. Children and adults – they were loved by someone. They mattered. They were important. They are now lost and can’t be returned. Things have gone unsaid. There may be regrets. There will be questions. People will be asking why? There will also be the joy of the things that have been experienced rather than just dreamed about. Memories are now all that are left. Thank goodness they have these.

Someone is grieving for the loss of a loved one tonight – taken from them without warning. Tragedies like this are happening every day all over the globe. Only this time it was much closer to home for me. It is a reminder that it doesn’t just happen to other people. We are all vulnerable. This could be us today or tomorrow. We’ll never know when.

Tell the people you love that they matter to you. Show them what they mean to you. This moment might be your last chance to do so.

By the way, I left the bookshop with not one but three books and I went back later to get one other thing. This bookshop knows how to fish – they baited the hook, threw out the line, had a nibble, got a bite, reeled me in, and released me ready for another fresh new day. They are well seasoned at the tag and release process.

Manifesto
05. Every day is now. The present moment.
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.

The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us? — Dorothy Day

Some days. Some days you feel yourself being slowly torn into rough edged shreds. Today I watched one of my colleagues struggling to hold it together while she took a few moments before a meeting (the third of the day), suggesting that if we could bare to skip a coffee and instead give the money to support Samoa. And that if we didn’t know why or whether we should then just do it and skip a second coffee – it’d be better for all of us. And she went on in a strained but dignified way to explain where the donation centres are.

I don’t know what it would be like to know what it would be like knowing the heart of your home had been torn out by a tsunami, but I can imagine. I saw my Samoan colleagues sneaking away from their desks to watch the tv in the lunchroom yesterday, desperate to get some news – any news – from home. And home truly is where the heart is, no matter what, and no matter how much the heart aches.

Manifesto
13. Every day be better than you were the day before.
18. Every day express love. Some people need to hear it. Most people need to see it. Don’t take it for granted.
39. Every day trust that there is a bigger picture. You are a part of it even if you may not know what it is.