Basement People

I don't know how much our plight here in Atlanta has reached the national news, but those wondering...yes, we were affected. The deluge of 20+ inches of rain over a weekend can wreak havoc on any community. For us, strangely enough, it helped create one.

Here was the scene:  a gathering of rain-soaked and sewage-steeped people (friends, family, neighbors, and plumbers), ripping up carpet and moving furniture and sweeping fluids (and some solids), all working together in a strange sort of rhythmic harmony. That was the scene in our basement on Monday, and truth be told, it was quite a horrible day.

But, there are few things like crisis and tragedy to bring a people together. Perhaps it's sad, but times like these have a way of uniting us far more than even the best of occasions. Something about the human condition works best during suffering; something about the nature of community gets stronger during crisis. Maybe it has something to do with having a clear goal and a common enemy--we simply had to get the rising sewage stopped and the molding carpet out. There was no doubting the clarity of our vision, the strategy of our goal, and the tactics of our task.

And we got it all done.

Now, of course, we have a lot more work to do in order to have a functioning basement again. And our problems pale in comparison to those on the west side of Atlanta who are still under water. God be with them all.

But I really feel good about our experience, strangely enough. I really do. I want to capture the community-creating, mission-accomplishing, job-completing vibe we all shared down there in the basement. I want to bottle it up and share it with organizations, families, and communities worldwide.

After all, don't we all have a lot of crap to deal with everyday?

Comments

[Roger Butner]

I intentionally don't keep up with the news much, Hal, and didn't realize what was going on with the weather in Atlanta (surprised I hadn't heard about it from family there).

I know what you mean about the focus and rhythm and best in humanity that comes out when you are working together to clean up community wreckage - or family crap - whichever the case may be. Being in Baton Rouge during both Katrina/Rita and Gustav really gave me a refreshing perspective on people's ability to work together for the good of all. It was extremely invigorating and hope-building!

But how quickly we tend to slide back into the same old same old...